Monday, October 4, 2010

You Want a F***ing Job?

From the comments at Reason.TV, "What We Saw at the One Nation Working Together Rally'."

I am so fucking tired of hearing - from both sides of the spectrum - that something needs to be done about "jobs."

FUCK "JOBS"

Jobs are a byproduct of healthy industry. They are not a goal in and of themselves and they most definitely are not something the government itself should be trying to encourage or create.

Jobs are what happen when someone has too much work to do by himself, so he gets someone to help. If you want to work, GO FUCKING WORK. Start a fucking business. Find something that you can do and do it and sell the product of your labor to others.

What? You don't want work for yourself? You want to work for someone else? Fine, but it's not businessowners' responsibility to employ people and its not the federal governments responsibility to somehow force them to. If you want a fucking job, then AGITATE THE FUCKING FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO EXPAND BUSINESS AND "JOBS" WILL COME. Make it easier for the people who actually do business and jobs will come as a byproduct. Jesus Christ, and you're also asking for higher taxes on the very people you need to create your precious JOBS? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?

WHAT THE FUCK HAS HAPPENED TO THIS COUNTRY? Why does everyone want to be treated like a child? And the goddam federal government ENCOURAGES this shit.

I am so fucking tired of this straight out of Marx shit that somehow the people are just entitled to share in someone else's fortune and capital in the name of "jobs." GO MAKE YOUR OWN FUCKING JOB.

Businesses aren't in the business of making "jobs," they're in the business of CREATING VALUE FOR THEIR OWNERS. When you say that a business should be making more JOBS, you are saying that the capital of those business owners should not actually belong to them and belongs to the "workers". Thanks a fucking lot, Stalin.

"Fund Jobs Not Wars"

Has it every occurred to these people that only one of those is actually the responsibility of the federal government to fund, and its not "JOBS".

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

I am surly this morning and this isn't helping.

The link is here. More at Memeorandum and Doug Ross.

We Must Stand Together? Ed Schultz at Socialist 'One Nation' Rally

That's just like wow.

Commentary and additional video
here:

After the 10-2-10 Rally this weekend I decided it was necessary to point out how much of a Liar and Propagandist Ed Schultz is. He is not interested in helping people on the left prosper, he is merely a mouthpiece for the extreme left with absolutely no factual ground for anything that comes out of his face.

Here is a quick clip of his opening speech from the One Nation Rally on the Mall.

“We as one nation, must stand together, must fight the forces of evil – the conservatives in this country”.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

HUMAN EVENTS Reporter Assaulted at Socialist 'One Nation' Rally

This one was caught on tape. Who knows how many additional altercations weren't recorded? These people are thugs. From Jason Mattera:

A liberal protester at the “One Nation Working Together” march physically assaulted a HUMAN EVENTS reporter who was videotaping Rep. Charlie Rangel (D.-N.Y) at the event at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The reporter, Emily Miller, was first hit from behind while she was taping Rangel as the Harlem congressman glad-handed supporters in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Miss Miller is heard on the video saying, “Please don’t hit me.” The protester proceeds to yell at the reporter, “Well get out of the way! What do you think this is? A--hole.” The activist was attempting to meet Rangel herself. Miss Miller continued videotaping the event, when suddenly the same unhinged protester lunged at her, hit her on the arm, and yelled, “Don’t take my picture.”
More at Memeorandum. And especially Nice Deb: "More 'Tea Party Violence'."

Leftist and Media Double-Standards on Socialist 'One Nation' Rally Reporting

It's nothing new, of course, but the media's campaign to downplay the left's communist-dominated "One Nation" protest yesterday needs to be highlighted nevertheless.

The first thing to notice is this photograph on crowd size comparisons from "Restoring Honor" and "One Nation" (via
Old Retired Petty Officer).

Media One Nation Rally

Crowd estimates have an "outsized" importance when the press and leftist blogs seek to minimize and ridicule the tea parties. But as soon as Democrat-Socialists march on D.C., wild claims of "double" the size of the Glenn Beck rally get wide play. Tom Maguire reports on the widely divergent crowd-size estimates, as well as systematic efforts to withhold on-the-ground reports (MSNBC edited out AP's first-hand report indicating that "Saturday's crowds were less dense and didn't reach as far to the edges as they did during Beck's rally"). And while some lefty blogs continue to pump up bogus "larger" crowd numbers, some have scaled back their claims as the facts have become available. The Political Carnival, which posted two entries yesterday boasting bigger numbers for "One Nation," has now issued a hilarious retraction, asking "Does Size Matter?" Well obviously it did yesterday, but now we have this: "While it is a visual indicator of enthusiasm and support, the size of a crowd isn’t as important as the content, message, and tone of the event."

Even more disturbing are the reports from the major newspapers. Under the guise of "objectivity," the main outlets have played up the "challenge to the tea parties" and the enthusiasm of "liberal" constituencies of the Democrat Party. At the New York Times, for example, the headline reads: "
Liberal Groups Rally, Challenging Tea Party." The notion that today's Democrat Party is a "liberal" party is one of the biggest lies the press perpetuates in contemporary political reporting. As so many bloggers have reported, yesterday's event marked a major collaborative effort by the left's neo-communist institutions and the mainstream elements of Democrat organizations. For example, check Marooned in Marin's first-hand report, "'One Nation' (Of Commies, Unions, & Other Leftist Extremists)...Trashing The Mall." And see especially, Looking at the Left, "Democrats, Union Workers, and Communists Rally Together in Washington":
The lines between the Democratic Party, labor unions, socialist and communist organizations, were blurred at the One Nation Working Together rally at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday. It was organized by One Nation Working Together, which is headed by the cream of the Democratic Party.

National Campaign Manager of One Nation Working Together, Leah Daughtry, was CEO and top organizer of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver Colorado where Barack Obama was nominated to be the parties candidate for president. Many of the top organizers have been Democratic candidates for office, or work for Obama for America.

The page on the National Education Association’s website inviting its members to travel to the rally quotes its president: “NEA is proud to be standing with our brothers and sisters in the labor and social justice movement …”
And some pictures of communist groups from the post:

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Across the web, since yesterday morning, bloggers have been posting untold numbers of images of every kind of "progressive" activist group under the sun. The event was a union-astroturfed neo-communist protest-a-palooza.

But readers opening the old dead-tree newspapers this morning weren't getting the full picture. A particularly egregious example is from my own Los Angeles Times, which is still delivered to my driveway each morning (for nostalgia purposes nowadays, more than anything else). Looking at the front page of the paper readers will notice the picture at bottom of flag-waving protesters, with a caption that reads: "IN WASHINGTON: Participants in the 'One Nation' march gather at the Lincoln Memorial." The apple pie imagery continues at Page A10, where we see the second photograph below with the two women holding Barack Obama signs. The caption reads: "ON A MISSION: Thousands, including labor and civil rights activists, gathered for the 'One Nation Working Together' rally." The Times' article is
here. Reading the report there is no mention of the deep bench of neo-communist organizations that organized and attended the rally. The discussion is on the event's goal of energizing "liberal" voters for the November elections. Toward the end we hear from some of the "progressives" who were appalled at the tea parties and the people "riding the anti-Obama train." Even more interesting to me is that not only does the Los Angeles Times completely whitewash any signs of the event's neo-communist penetration, but when it comes to discussing the upcoming congressional races, the "extremists" in the tea party movement get front-page treatment. Notice at the picture below, on the left of the newspaper, where we see the article, "Making An Issue of GOP Words." The heading at the Times' website puts it more bluntly: "Democrats Use Oddball Remarks Against GOP Rivals." And here's this from the report:
An odd assortment of issues, including witchcraft and the president's religion, have proved distracting as candidates head into the heated final stretch of the general election campaign.

But it's not merely a case of media nitpicking or YouTube moments. In some cases, the side issues have begun to affect races.

The situation is in large part a result of a Democratic strategy aimed at changing the conversation from voters' frustration with Democratic leaders in Washington to a portrayal of tea party Republicans as extremist. The tactic was one of the few available to Democrats saddled with a national political climate decidedly turned against them and a stubbornly slow economic recovery.
The remainder of the article cherry-picks obscure statements by candidates, some over a decade old, in a clear effort to bolster the desperate last-gasp campaign ploy of Democrat hopefuls. It's all pretty pathetic. But as I've reported at this blog many times, Americans are denied genuine news from today's MFM establishment. The savior of the republic is found in the legions of citizen-journalists who work hard to get the facts out there.

Media One Nation Rally

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Socialists Dominate 'One Nation Working Together' Rally in Washington, D.C.

I would have loved to have been there! Check the roster of neo-communists at the "Endorsing Organizations" at the One Nation Working Together homepage. A partnering outfit is the blatantly socialist "One Nation Working Toward Peace and Justice" organization. And International ANSWER is always good for boatloads of commies:

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And check the video. Pure brilliance via Twitter and Chicks on the Right. Plus, additional commentary at Washington Rebel: "Zinnlandia," and This Ain't Hell, "That 'One Nation' Rally."


Enthusiasm Gap at 'One Nation' Rally? You Think?

You know, I've been to so many small tea parties that I don't care too much about the size of events after a while. The feeling at the massive rallies is just exponentially different. I covered the Phoenix amnesty and reconquista march, which easily saw 50,000 people make the trek from the starting Indian School location to the civic center. But whenever tea partiers march there's a systematic press effort to suppress the numbers. What's so funny about the socialist rally yesteday is that there's nothing the media could do to help the measly turnout for the radical leftists. Perhaps 10 or 15 thousand showed up all day, but it's pretty odd for speakers to still be yelping to the crowd when the mall is virtually empty (at the video). That said, Nicole Belle --- obviously of the reality-based community, right? --- is undeterred: "Here's Your Enthusiasm Gap: One Nation Rally Draws More Attendees Than Beck's 'Whitestock'." (Via Memeorandum.)

Even during what would appear to be at the period of peak attendance it's just not that crowded. Check this CNN video at about 30 seconds. Pay attention to the grassy area on the left, next to the reflecting pool. It's just wide patches of grass. And then check my post from yesterday.

Roughly the same shot can be seen at this C-SPAN screencap:

One Nation Crowd

And Andrew Berman states the main problem: "I still have not found a good overhead shot yet ..." Exactly. William Teach predicted that we wouldn't see any overhead shots, and we won't, unless a tea partier cruised up to the top of the Washington Monument to snap a picture. If one become available it would go viral big time. See a report from both Glenn Beck's and "One Nation" at Just a Conservative Girl, "8/28 Crowd V. 10/2 Crowd See for yourself." And at Lonely Conservative, "Rally for Socialism Fails to Draw Much of a Crowd." Plus, at RWN, "Lefty Rally at Lincoln Memorial Gets Glad Handed By Old Media, But Event a Bust." And Nice Deb has the most comprehensive roundup of the day, "One Nation of Moonbats March on Washington."

Keri Russell Sunday Rule 5

Keri Russell's at Esquire Magazine. She looks great here, but the buzz says her new show is not quite so hot. Anyway, check Linkmaster Smith for the link-around.

Unlimited Free Image and File Hosting at MediaFire


Saturday, October 2, 2010

Crowds 'Less Dense' For 'One Nation' Protest in D.C.

And that's according to the Associated Press:
More than 400 organizations - ranging from labor unions to faith, environmental and gay rights groups - partnered for the event, which comes one month after Beck packed the same space with conservatives and tea party-style activists.

Organizers claimed they had as many participants as Beck's rally. But Saturday's crowds were less dense and didn't reach as far to the edges as they did during Beck's rally. The National Park Service stopped providing official crowd estimates in the 1990s.
And here's a photo from one of my commenters, Colin, who notes, "I attended the rally from about 2-3pm, for an even that was supposed to run from noon-4." In other words, a sparsely attended event at what should be the peak hour of the rally:

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And still, the denizens of the "reality-based community" have their heads in the sand.

And in related news, see Da Tech Guy, "
Two important comparisons between 9/12 and One Nation." And this: "One Nation Rally Respect for Our WWII Vets." And from Serr8d, "One Nation: Dirty Socialists, Union Thugs and Hippies gather and trash the Mall."

BONUS: At Doug Ross, "
15 Photos From the #OneNation Rally You'll Never See In Legacy Media."

Progressives March on Washington for 'One Nation Working Together' — Thousands Rally in Support of Socialist Agenda — UPDATE!! Crowd Size Estimates!

UPDATE: Below is a photo from AP's Philip Elliott. And just a few minutes ago he tweeted, "That took no time at all. Mall is empty" (a little after 4:30pm EST):

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The Political Carnival is reporting on crowd size (with no numbers, oddly): "VIDEO: One Nation rally crowd size announcement," and "PhotOh! One Nation: “Someone tell Beck there are more people here than” at his rally."

Officals no longer provide offical numbers, but by the looks of AP's photo above, as well as those at The Political Carnival, it seems apparent that the crowd density on August 28th, for Glenn Beck's rally, was much higher. And recall the aerial photo below, which should silence all doubters. But folks will see what they want to see. Warner Todd Huston writes on this, in any case: "Lefty Rally at Lincoln Memorial Gets Glad Handed By Old Media, But Event a Bust."

Glenn Beck Overhead

**********

Checking
the homepage we find the historic image of the 1963 March on Washington:

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The actual numbers of people attending as of 11:00am EST don't bode well for a comparable turnout to the August 28th "Restoring Honor" rally. For example, CNN reports, "Commentator Glenn Beck drew tens of thousands Tea Party activists to the Lincoln Memorial for his revival-style rally August 28." Also at Fox News, "Invoking Tea Party Anger, Thousands Rally in D.C. in Support of Dems' Agenda."

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It's so pathetic that press outlets are publishing stories with tea party pictures from earlier events, "C-SPAN Uses Tea Party Rally Crowd Shot for Leftist “One Nation” Rally Article":
CSPAN is airing the leftist “One Socialist Nation” rally today in Washington DC. Unfortunately, they didn’t have a good crowd shot of the turnout… So they used a photo from a Glenn Beck tea party rally.
According to MSNBC: " Thousands gather for 'One Nation' rally in D.C." And here's another pic from Politico, with a report:

One Nation March

Participants said they hoped Saturday’s event would unify a broad array of progressives — union leaders, environmentalists, antiwar protesters, and civil-rights and gay-rights activists — behind a common cause exactly one month before the Nov. 2 election.

“It seems that the Democrats need to get their message out. It seems they don’t do that effectively and you have chaos over here with tea bag people getting all the press,” said Kristen Childress of Charleston, W.Va., who was attending with her partner. “What is the Democratic message? What is it?
And no surprise, since the left's commie-progressives are sponsoring the rally, and American's are rejecting this redistribution and statism in record numbers (bottom two photos via Tania Gail):

One Nation March

One Nation March

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See Kyle-Anne Shiver, "The Other America Marches on Washington":
Yes, folks, there are two Americas: the authentic America of community builders and the other America, made up of socialist group-thinkers, moochers, and no-accounts, many of them living off government grants or welfare checks.

The tension between these two Americas has been a constant tug-of-war for nearly a hundred years, since our premier socialist-progressive president, Woodrow Wilson, bore the first rotten fruits of liberal fascism on our shores.

With the election of the first socialist-progressive president in decades, the political tension between the two Americas has reached fever pitch. Independent voters, who were lulled like sheep into the lion's den by Barack Obama's conciliatory, I’ll-make-it-all-better rhetoric, have been expressing buyer's remorse for many long months and now yell "Change it back!" as loudly as they shouted "Yes we can!" less than two short years ago.

Obama lied; hope died. And all over the land, Obama's Intolerable Acts are causing authentic America to rise to her feet in surly indignation. Americans are putting their hope back in God, where it belongs, and vowing to cut big government back down to its constitutionally mandated size.

Authentic Americans -- those patriots with a profound respect for our U.S. Constitution and do-it-yourself ingenuity, the Americans who prefer liberty to nanny-state-provided luxury -- held a march on Washington on August 28. The event drew more than 300,000 people. True to their good citizenship, these authentic Americans honored the sacrifices of our forebears in speech and song and afterward left the whole scene immaculate.

This Saturday, October 2, the other America is set to hold its counter-rally, hoping to inspire their like-minded socialist group-thinkers, moochers, and no-accounts to vote a month from now so that they can continue their mad-dog raiding of the producers' profits and tighten the big-government stranglehold on authentic America.

The other America is calling October 2 the "One Nation Rally." Now, there's a real side-buster. They represent the one nation whose every roof and meal are subsidized by the authentic America. They should have held this demand-o-rama on May 5 in solidarity with their fellow socialist travelers around the world.

Who knows how many people will show up, but every far-left community agitating group is on board and is sure to bus in as many warm bodies as they all can find. Knowing the left's penchant for agitprop, we might expect hundreds of gutter-dwellers dressed up in business attire or lots of white-coated "doctors" or scads of Wiccan witches wearing soccer-mom outfits. Perhaps Barbara Boxer -- who thought authentic Americans looked too "well-dressed" to be anything other than "astroturf" protesters -- will be on hand to coordinate the left’s agitprop costumes for the day.

The national chairman of the Communist Party USA posted an urgent appeal for warm bodies on Obama's Organizing for America website:
Which brings me to the One Nation rally on October 2 in our nation's capital. Here is an opportunity to reestablish, reenergize, and repower the coalition of people's organization that elected the first African American president in our nation's history.

Opportunities of this kind are rare. But when they arise, they have to be seized. No stone should be left unturned to bring people and their organizations to Washington. This event's success will be measured by its size. A huge turnout will change the political atmosphere and send a message to friend and foe.
At least the Communist Party USA is more honest than President Obama. They come right out and tell the people they demand equalizing tyranny with a yes-we-can end to the American dream of liberty and the individual pursuit of happiness. Of course, Barack Obama knew he had to rely on deceiving authentic America to get elected. Now, he needs the CPUSA to get out their rusty hammers and sickles to beat the producers back into line.
See also the communist homepage for "One Nation Working Together for Peace and Justice."

Whitman Beefs Up Latino Outreach

At LAT, "Whitman courts Latinos in bid to defuse controversy over maid":
GOP candidate for governor has purchased more ads in Spanish-language media and given interviews to Univision and Telemundo.

Meg Whitman's campaign for governor has doubled its advertising on Spanish-language radio and increased the number of its Latino television spots by roughly 50% as the former EBay chief executive seeks to blunt the impact of news that she employed, then fired, an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper.

Publicly, Whitman's campaign aides say the controversy over her former housekeeper, Nicandra Diaz Santillan, will not harm Whitman's prospects among Latino voters, especially after the multimillion-dollar investment she has already made to reach them.

Latinos "care about jobs, and we've been in that community communicating for a year trying to earn their support every day," said Mike Murphy, Whitman's senior strategist.
But the campaign's actions portray greater concern.

In addition to bolstering the ad volume on Spanish-language media, according to a well-placed source familiar with the ad purchases, Whitman's first sit-down interview Thursday after she held a news conference about Diaz Santillan was with the Spanish-language Univision network followed by Telemundo. On Friday, the campaign released a list of two dozen Latino business leaders who have endorsed Whitman, including Joel Ayala, the former president and chief executive of the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce.

Whitman also conducted a flurry of media interviews Friday — a day which she might otherwise have devoted to preparation for a debate Saturday with her opponent, Democrat Jerry Brown, which will be aired on the Spanish-language Univision network.

She continued to deny allegations by Diaz Santillan's attorney, Gloria Allred, that she had exploited the former housekeeper and knowingly employed her despite her undocumented status. Whitman says that she relied on an employment agency to hire Diaz Santillan, who had given the agency a fake Social Security number and California driver's license.

She maintains that during the nine years Diaz Santillan worked for her, neither she nor her husband had any reason to suspect their housekeeper was an illegal immigrant. Allred has produced a 2003 letter sent to Whitman by the Social Security Administration that states Diaz Santillan's name does not match her Social Security number. The letter appears to bear a note in Whitman's husband's handwriting.

In an interview on Fox TV with Sean Hannity, Whitman accused Democrats of exploiting Diaz Santillan for political purposes, regardless of the effect on the former housekeeper's life.

"What's going to happen to Nicky after Nov. 2, whether I win or lose this election? No ones cares about Nicky Diaz. She's going to be deported. Her three children were born here, her husband is here. They have sacrificed her for Jerry Brown's political ambitions and Gloria Allred's, you know, PR stunt," Whitman said.
More at the link. And the exchange on Hannity's below. But see especially the second clip with Greta interviewing Gloria Allred. Greta's like a courtroom bulldog on this, and no doubt the heat is on the Democrats and their sick smear-based politics. And finally, check Fire Andrea Mitchell as well, with audios from Mark Levin's show: "Mark Levin Obliterates Gloria Allred." I'd add that it's fascinating how rapid conservatives have rallied around Meg Whitman. I recall Allahpundit's post the other night questioning Whitman's intelligence! The debate comes down to how we interpret that no-match letter. Once Whitman and her husband got it there's no doubt they had a problem. But Santillan wasn't fired until 2009. So, blame the maid, right? A governor's race is on the line, so I can see why the right is rallying. And as Michelle says, Gloria Allred's a "crapweasel." Still, Whitman's RINO and she'll be a Schwarzenegger retread in office. Bummer for California.

RELATED: "Whitman within law, immigration lawyers say" (via Memeorandum).

Andrew Breitbart on James O'Keefe

"O'Keefe Owes His Supporters an Explanation" (via Memeorandum). O'Keefe might even owe them an apology. More here: "James O'Keefe Jumps The Shark A Second Time." (Yeah, "jumps the shark." Don't know about the "second time" though. The ACORN scandal was killer. But the exposure must have been narcotic. O'Keefe seems not to be able to keep his head down while waiting for another truly good exposé.)

Queen Elizabeth Sneak Preview

Cool story:
Built in a shipyard in northern Italy, the latest addition to the Cunard fleet, joining the Queen Victoria and the Queen Mary 2, is being launched on a flood-tide of optimism that there is still a market for cruise ships that put a premium on old-fashioned luxury. Where tea is served by waiters in white gloves to the strains of a string quartet. Where ladies of a certain age are squired by brilliantined gigolos who can do a nifty foxtrot. And where the gentlemen in the dining room – and they are all gentlemen, certainly to the staff who serve them, for whom deference is a byword – are required to wear jackets.

'Niqabitches'

At London's Telegraph: "French women cause a stir in niqab and hot pants in anti-burka ban protest." (Via Memeorandum and Weasel Zippers.)
Calling themselves the “Niqabitches,” the veiled ladies can be seen strutting past prime ministerial offices and various government ministries with a black veil leaving only their eyes visible, but with their long legs naked bar black high heels.

Hate-Crimes Charges in Tyler Clementi Case? Legal Debate Swirls Over Student's Suicide

An update on developments in the Tyler Clementi case, at NYT:
Dozens of Rutgers University students wore black on Friday to remember Tyler Clementi, a freshman who killed himself after his roommate, according to prosecutors, secretly streamed over the Internet his intimate encounter with another man.

But even as students conducted quiet rituals of mourning, a vehement legal debate swirled over whether prosecutors, who have charged the roommate and another freshman with invasion of privacy, should — or would — raise the stakes by also pressing hate-crime charges.

Though bias charges are generally hard to prove, lawyers and civil rights experts said, New Jersey has one of the toughest state laws on hate crimes. Its so-called bias intimidation law allows prosecutors to lodge separate charges and seek greater penalties against anyone who commits a crime against someone because of the victim’s sexual orientation. The law does not specify that the crime be violent.

The Middlesex County prosecutor, Bruce J. Kaplan, said Thursday that his office was considering whether to press hate-crime charges against Mr. Clementi’s roommate, Dharun Ravi of Plainsboro, N.J., and Molly Wei of West Windsor, N.J. As of Friday, no additional charges had been filed and a court hearing date had not been set.

But on talk shows and blogs, people outraged by the suicide of Mr. Clementi, an accomplished violinist from Ridgewood, N.J., demanded that the defendants face stiff penalties.
More at the link.

I've been especially interested in how those on different sides of the spectrum have spun this for their own purposes.
Charli Carpenter has a lengthy post in which she moves from a general explication of "bullying" as it applies to her kid's schools to the broader phenomenon of right-wingers attempting to "punk" journalists, e.g., James O'Keefe's recent botched escapade, and how this indicates a pattern of pervasive and reckless disregard for individual privacy and safety among those on the right. (Additional "cases" at the link above.) This might be an interesting discussion, but Charli cites SEK as making an authoritative case on some related concerns, and since SEK's a hate-blogger (cyber-bully) who trolls and stalks around the blogosphere to sow pain and humility (which in the extreme obviously fuels the same kind of insecurities that drove Tyler Clementi to his death), I'm finding all this kinda amusing:
In the wake of those events, the Massachusetts school system has implemented new anti-bullying measures. But as the school year kicks into gear, it’s hard to know precisely how they are going to be enforced. Already stories are trickling home to me from my daughter about racist and sexist speech going unchallenged in the company of teachers and administrators. But one of the biggest sources of angst and psychological torment I hear about from my daughter is not name-calling or slurs but rather the acquisition and exposure of one’s secrets by others, especially those you trusted as friends. Whether it’s betrayal by an annoyed confidant, passing along of private emails or text messages to others, or the construction of nasty rumors about one’s private life by rivals, efforts to sully others’ reputations by acquiring and sharing private information seems to be endemic.

And it’s not just among kids. We have entire industries now that specialize in mining individuals’ digital footprints for “incriminating” information about completely legal acts that hurt no one in individuals’ private lives that might nonetheless prove useful ammunition in public venues. I’ve never been sure quite why we find this acceptable even for our public officials, but now such information is routinely – and legally – gathered on ordinary citizens by other private individuals (like spouses and the private investigators they employ) as well. Apparently, there’s no law against it: in fact precedent is beginning to move in the opposite direction.
David Denby, in Snark, argued that those who habitually attack others with ridicule intend their words to be strong enough to "make their victims disappear - go away, give up, even kill themselves." I wonder if Charli Carpenter might think a little more broadly about all of this then, as she's a participant on a hate blog essentially designed to kill.

Alan Grayson Backlash

Hard-left progressives continue to defend disgraced Congressman Alan Grayson. Indeed, a forthcoming documentary lionizes him, "Sreet Fighting Man: The Political Mind of Alan Grayson":

And Grayson scoffed at new polling findings that show him trailing challenger Dan Webster by seven points: "Grayson in Denial: Can't Believe He's Lost 20 Points in CD8."

But recall that Dan Webster's getting national support in his bid to unseat Grayson. This is going to be delicious. Nate Silver's model currently sees Webster with a 60.6 percent chance of taking the the seat:

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NewsBusted — 58% of Arabs Oppose Ground Zero Mosque

Via Theo Spark:

Friday, October 1, 2010

Leftists Attack Community College Students and Professors as Failures

SEK's got yet another post obsessing with American Power. I noticed that he linked to an older one that I'd ignored, and I find this comment at the thread:
Just curious there, Donnie. You post multiple items a day, spend an awful lot of time commenting on various blogs (and those are just the ones you admit to posting on!)…do you think, you know, maybe something is getting short-shrifted?

Your job? No, of course not. How hard can it be to teach your opinion of history to a bunch of high school failures who have to take your course or else miss out on their Associates Degrees in cooking or house cleaning?

I got it! Masturbation! You’re falling woefully behind in that. You’ll be forced to attend remedial wanking lessons if you aren’t careful! After all, you have to keep your CPEs current!
I'm ignoring the stuff on my blogging hours and wanking. I've highlighted this part about a bunch of "high school failues" and "Associate Degrees in cooking and house cleaning?"

I can't see the upside of attacking community college students, since that false stereotype is more generally just an ugly slur on the community college demographic. It's disgusting, but SEK piles on in a response, which is no surprise:
Just chiming in to agree here. Most of my best students haven’t been of the I-tested-into-a-UC sort, but the I-earned-my-way-into-a-UC-via-a-CC sort, so whatever you might think (or the Donalde might prove) about the quality of the teaching at CCs, I can say that more often than not the students far outstrip their teachers.
That's really no defense of the students at all: It's a set up for the punchline, which is designed to be a smear on me but reveals a provincial antipathy in general to the faculty and mission of those teaching at community colleges. And all of this is quite revealing. I've posted on related matters previously: "You're a Professor, Really?" With this latest batch of smears we see the larger leftist-elitist pathology that has long bedeviled the left and makes progressives implacably hostile to the interests and well-being of common folk. One of the things that gives me great pride is the chance to teach the disadvantaged, and there's plenty of opportunity for that at community college. The irony here is that leftists are purportedly all about helping those at the lower rungs of the class system, but when these hateful, spiteful ideologues let it rip with their ugly attacks on those with less we see once again that it's conservatism that's the genuinely compassionate persuasion on the ideological spectrum.

Balloon Juice: Okay to Push Jewish Conspiracies 'As Long As You Don't Criticize Right-Wing Israelis'

Here's the zoom-in from DougJ's comments on Rick Sanchez at Balloon Juice, "Dirty Sanchez."

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Here's the key passages:
You’ve probably heard about Rick Sanchez’s “Jews run everything” freak-out by now. I agree with Paul Campos of Lawyers, Guns, and Money that it’s ridiculous for Sanchez to whine about how the Jewish man is keeping Cuban-American tv personalities down (which seemed to be what Sanchez was getting at) ....

My sense is that this doesn’t hurt Sanchez’s career as much as you might think, since nowadays it’s fine to endorse Jewish conspiracy theories as long as you don’t criticize right-wing Israelis. Just compare the cases of Gregg Easterbrook and Charles Freeman.

Update. CNN
cans Sanchez.
I'm reminded of the whole "SASQUATCH ISRAEL" brouhaha. I can already hear the crickets chirping for Balloon Juice, since there's NEVER ANY anti-Semitism on the progressive left!!

And notice the fail "update" as well: Turns out there must be a few "right-wing Israelis" (read "Jewish neocons occupying the commanding heights of the media industry") who don't care so much for Sanchez's anti-Jewish slurs criticisms after all.

BONUS: No word yet from
Bonejob Keefe. Surprising too, since he's ever on the prowl for alleged-right wing bigotry and RAAAAACISM!!

Heidi Klum Quits Victoria's Secret After 13 Years

At NY Post (and hat tip to Glenn Reynolds).

This calls for a couple of quick Rule 5 videos:

Rick Sanchez Fired From CNN

Mary Katherine Ham had the best headline on the scandal: "Rick Sanchez: I'm Way More of a Minority Than 'Bigot' Jon Stewart Because the Jews Run CNN."

Well, he's out now. And iHATETHEMEDIA's got the appropriately-titled report, "
Rick Sanchez fired by the evil Jewish media overlords at CNN." (ADDED: At Memeorandum now, and also NYT, "CNN Fires Sanchez After Critique of Stewart.")

This story will be
all over the news tonight. The various media reports are hilarious. At NPR, "CNN Spokesperson: Anchor Rick Sanchez 'Is No Longer With The Company'," and especially WaPo, "Rick Sanchez leaves CNN after anchor calls Jon Stewart a 'bigot'." Well, he didn't just "leave."

Bin Laden Threatens Mumbai-Style Terrorist Attacks on the West

Okay, update to my previous post, "Two British Brothers 'At Heart' of al-Qaeda Plot to Launch Mumbai-Style Terrorist Attacks on the West."

At Fox News, "
U.S. Officials: Bin Laden Believed to Be Involved in European Plot":

Senior Al Qaeda leaders, including Usama Bin Laden, are believed to be behind efforts to mount a Mumbai-style attack on Westerners in European cities, a senior U.S. intelligence official told Fox News, though it's not clear how deeply involved Bin Laden was in the plot.

The news comes on the same day that Bin Laden released an audio recording in which he depicts the Pakistani government as uncaring and calls for the creation of a new relief organization to help Muslims after this summer's devastating floods.

The emerging details of the European plot point to coordinated shooting sprees or attacks and kidnappings in Britain, France and Germany -- tactics much favored by Al Qaeda. The plot was moving forward with dual national citizens, who had Pakistani and European passports, the official told Fox News, adding that Western officials intended to disrupt the plot by publicly exposing it.

Another senior U.S. official told Fox News that there is "some evidence within the intelligence community that Bid Laden was involved in plotting this foiled attack."
More at the link.

See also Long War Journal, "
Report: Osama bin Laden ordered Mumbai-style attacks in Europe."

Two British Brothers 'At Heart' of al-Qaeda Plot to Launch Mumbai-Style Terrorist Attacks on the West

But let's not overreact or anything.

At London's Telegraph (via
Theo Spark):

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Intelligence sources say the pair are part of a 10-strong team who were planning to launch shooting sprees on cities in Britain, France and Germany.

A Pakistani intelligence official, who is part of a team that has been tracking militants, said that they had been watching the two British brothers for nearly a year.

In recent weeks the men had been in telephone contact with London as they sought help in securing weapons and preparing the plot.

The official told the Associated Press: “They have been making calls to Germany and London. They have been talking about and looking for facilitators and logistics they need there to carry out terror strikes.”

The suspects, and the eight German members for the attack team, have backing from al-Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban and the Afghan Taliban, the official said.

Although he characterised the plot as “immature,” the Pakistani official warned against underestimating the group, adding: “It does not mean that they are not capable of materialising their designs. They are very much working on it.”

However, the official said that one of the brothers, named as Abdul Jabber, had been killed in a US missile strike on militant camps in Pakistan’s tribal borders.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister, asked to see details about preparations for a Mumbai-style attack when he was notified about the plot around two weeks ago, sources said.

He was shown the results of a training exercise in the West Midlands earlier this year involving police marksmen, special forces and the emergency services.

The 10 Pakistani terrorists who attacked Mumbai in India two years ago killed 166 people and injured more than 300, gaining world-wide notoriety.

The Daily Telegraph reported earlier this week that Britons were among those killed by a US drone attack in the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan and that British security services have traced their connections.

There are at least 20 Britons in training camps along the Afghan-Pakistan border who are being trained in firearms and explosives.
More at Af-Pak Channel, "Daily brief: Qaeda-linked terrorism plot uncovered."

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RELATED: At LAT, "
Pakistan Shuts NATO Supply Line."

Emanuel's Tough Style Was Key to Obama Presidency

Just watched Rahm Emanuel's departure speech live on CNN. A little mushy-gushy for me (and these are the "tough guys"?). That said, I'll update later with a video.

Meanwhile, from LAT:

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President Obama's chief of staff, stepping down to run for Chicago mayor, was instrumental in the passage of a stimulus bill and the healthcare overhaul — but will be remembered largely for his tough, profane persona.

President Obama on Friday will announce the resignation of chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, a tempestuous and powerful operative whose portfolio ranged from troop levels in Afghanistan to the lineup of Democrats running in state races.

Emanuel is leaving to run for mayor of Chicago and may begin campaigning as soon as next week.

Obama hired Emanuel to push through an ambitious domestic agenda, which he did with a warlike intensity. He steered passage of two major packages: a stimulus bill that experts say prevented a sour economy from getting even worse, and a healthcare overhaul that will provide coverage for 30 million more Americans over the next decade.

But over that same 20 months, he showed himself to be one of the most pugnacious and profane chiefs of staff to hold the position; he insulted allies, sparred with colleagues, twisted arms and practiced a style of old-school politics that was at odds with his boss' inspiring campaign promise to change the tone in Washington.

He leaves the White House in a precarious spot. Unemployment has risen to nearly 10%, damaging Obama's approval ratings, and a deep partisan divide has boxed in the Obama agenda.

When the president announces Emanuel's resignation, senior aide Pete Rouse will be there to accept an appointment as interim chief of staff.
There's more at Memeorandum, especially "Capitol Hill worries Rahm Emanuel's exit changes little."

BONUS: At Michelle's, "What Rahm has to look forward to."

Tyler Clementi's Online Postings — Plus, Some Perspective on the 'Hate Crimes' and 'Gay Morality' Debate

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Romney, Palin at Front of GOP Presidential Field

At Gallup. Romney's at 19 percent. Palin at 16 percent. Huckabee at 12 and Gingrich at 9:
Generally speaking, the better-known candidates tend to fare best in early tests of support for presidential nominations. That helps explain why 2008 presidential candidates Romney and Huckabee, 2008 vice presidential nominee Palin, and former House Speaker Gingrich currently generate more support for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination than those who have not previously run for national office or held a high position in national government, such as Tim Pawlenty or Haley Barbour.

Historically, Republicans have generally nominated the early front-runner as the party's presidential candidate. The notable exception came in the last presidential election, when Rudy Giuliani led in most of the early nomination polls but had several poor early primary or caucus showings before withdrawing from the race.

For the record: My first pick is Sarah Palin, then Romney. I won't vote for Gingrich.

Trying to Find Out Just Why Carl's All the Rage

At NY Post (via Memeorandum):

Why so angry?

Carl Paladino romped through the Columbus Day Parade in Howard Beach, Queens, like a hyperactive puppy, kissing women and men with equal abandon and handing out lollipops -- he calls them "suckers" -- from a trick-or-treat bag.

Suddenly and without warning, storm clouds overtook every inch of his being.

"F- -k that!"

Stepping into a pizza parlor, friends, supporters and waiters watched, in fascination and horror, as Mr. Nice Guy turned on a dime into a sputtering, cursing, Incredible Hulk.

"F- -k it!" railed Paladino, who came out of nowhere to become the Republican candidate for governor of New York. "I'm not going to put up with this s- -t!"

His wrath was sparked by a subject on the lips of all New Yorkers the last few days -- the love child Paladino admits fathering 10 years ago. And his wife's forgiveness of the man who betrayed her.

But Paladino didn't count on losing control of the "one big happy family" narrative he's selling, as reporters descended on his wife, Cathy, and ex-mistress, Suzanne Brady. Clearly, Paladino has not faced the million-dollar question: What did you expect?

Campaign manager Michael Caputo tried to talk him down, but Paladino interrupted with another torrent of F-bombs. Calmly, Caputo intoned, "You're on your own," and walked out of the restaurant, leaving the candidate alone with embarrassed strangers. And me.

And so goes one of the most emotional and unusual campaigns ever to hit New York.
More at the link.

RELATED: At JammieWearingFool, "
'You Send Another Goon to My Daughter's House and I'll Take You Out, Buddy!'."