Six Weeks After Breakout Entry into GOP Race, Rick Perry Under Pressure to Step Up His Game

At LAT, "Perry under pressure after debate stumbles."

This section on immigration is especially telling:

Perry's stance on immigration is prompting fresh doubts, in some GOP quarters, about his ability to translate his electoral success in Texas to the national level.

Perry has "a surprisingly tin ear" on the immigration issue, said Tony Fabrizio, a Republican strategist who is unaligned in the presidential contest.

To most Republicans, denying tuition subsidies to illegal immigrants "is a question of fairness," said Fabrizio. He added that Perry, in portraying his critics as heartless, is making Republican voters wonder whether he shares their values.

The issue also has particular salience in Florida, the biggest early state on the GOP calendar, where Republican Rick Scott's victory in last year's gubernatorial election turned in part on his advocacy of an Arizona-style policy. Al Cardenas, a prominent Florida Republican with close ties to former Gov. Jeb Bush, was booed at a recent tea party event in Tampa when he spoke favorably about immigration.

The issue also strikes a chord with primary voters in key states such as Iowa, South Carolina and Wisconsin, Fabrizio said.

In interviews, Perry supporters in Florida, including those who disagree with his immigration stance, said the issue wasn't enough to make them abandon him.

State Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera of Miami, the Republican leader of the Florida House, stopped short of endorsing a Texas-style tuition plan but said immigration wouldn't be "a decisive factor" in the primary.

"The most important issue in the primary is jobs and the economy," said Lopez-Cantera, a Perry supporter who represents Little Havana.

But Charlie Gerow, a Republican consultant from Harrisburg, Pa., said initial excitement over Perry's entry into the 2012 race had entered a new phase.

"People were looking for something different," he said. "Now it's a question of what [Perry's candidacy] is going to look like when it's examined under the microscope."

Perry's going to continue to get hammered on immigraton, and yeah, we're in a new phase alright. See the St. Petersburg Times, "Herman Cain wins Presidency 5 straw poll" (at Memorandum). Also at The Other McCain, "ORLANDO GOP STRAW POLL RESULTS UPDATE: Herman Cain Beats Rick Perry."

Straws polls aren't terribly significant, although in the case of Rick Perry, his entry into the race in August wiped out Michele Bachmann's bounce coming out of Ames. So, there's considerable insider interest on how these events shake up expectations and shift loyalties among supporters and potential delegates. And kudos to Herman Cain. The guy's a no nonsense candidate. Perhaps the results of the Orlando straw poll will help him expand his support heading into the Florida primary, which is scheduled for ... well, it's still unscheduled, but is normally held early, and is one of the initial make-or-break contests. John McCain pretty much sealed the nomination by winning Florida in 2008.

Naomi Watts Opens Up About Her Romance with Tragic Heath Ledger

Watts was awesome in "The Ring," although I haven't seen her in too many flicks since then, my bad. She's starring in "Dream House," out in theaters next weekend, so maybe I'll check that out.

Anyway, at Daily Mail, "'We had a beautiful relationship'":

Naomi Watts has opened up about her ex Heath Ledger saying the late actor was a 'very special soul' who 'made a great impact on my life.'

The 43-year-old actress - who is currently promoting her movies Dream House and J Edgar - dated the Australian star for nearly two years.

Their relationship ended in 2004 and he died four years later at the age of 28.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

The Daily Caller's Jim Treacher Trolls the Internet to Track Down Those Who Kicked His Ass in the 'Wombshifter' Controversy

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

Maybe I'm Amazed — At Turning 50...

Linda McCartney would have turned 70 today. Paul McCartney wrote "Maybe I'm Amazed" for her, so here you go. I just turned 50. So, perhaps this might be a nice musical break. I feel good. I walked yesterday for a couple of hours. Cleared my head and saw parts of the neighborhood I hadn't seen before. I'm going to try to make that a habit. I used to walk just about every day. Blogging replaced some of that time. I've been getting some of it back lately, spending less time online. Anyway, thanks for the readership and friendship. More later today:

RELATED: At TigerHawk, "Happy birthday, Scott!"

Hot Reebok Photo Shoot with Kelly Brook

This lady's something else:

Elizabeth Warren Viral Speech on Class Warfare

Doug Ross has the epic takedown: "Elizabeth Warren, Totalitarian Moron, Translated."

I don't recall conservatives denying that the nation's social contract provides the foundation for entrepreneurial attainment. Conservatives just want less of it. They'd do even better. Warren's speech is a huge straw man, but progressives love this stuff. Not just because they're so stupid, but because they'll swallow anything that gives them greater pretense to other people's money.

Also at The Week, "Elizabeth Warren's 'kick-ass' class warfare rebuttal."

More Voters Considering Romney Than Obama, Perry

One of the things I learned in 2008 is that it's probably better to not alienate your conservative blogging colleagues by attacking them for supporting this or that candidate during the primaries. I pissed off a couple of people back then, perhaps even Allahpundit. And it's hard to recover if you're a blogger looking for some linkage. I've worked hard to mend fences and make some new friends, and at this point I don't worry about driving traffic that much anyway. Conservatives are pretty fractured on the right (with some nasty dust ups over Rick Perry), but I'm not worrying about pissing folks off. I like who I like. It's been no secret. Back in '08 I was excited about John McCain's campaign because national security was the top issue for me and I thought McCain was the best candidate by far. A lot of folks had strong reactions against McCain, and by now the best thing I can say about him is that he nominated Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate. This time around, my top issues are economic, especially the need to expand the economy and to reduce the national debt. Those preferences in turn relate to my hope that the U.S. will return to more limited government principles while still retaining a commitment to national security. That's why I've been a huge fan of Sarah Palin's for a long time. But she's delayed a decision to enter the race. So, Michelle Bachmann's campaign appealed to me for the same reasons. Bachmann's now struggling. If she can maintain some momentum until Iowa I think she could still be a contender in some of the early primaries, but she's close to long-shot territory. And after that? Well, as I said when he announced, I frankly don't know that much about Rick Perry and I'm still learning. His debate performance the other night was a disaster, apparently. And now the speculation is that Romney is recovering and positioning himself back atop the GOP field. See James Taranto, for example, "Everything's Coming Up Romney." And also, William Jacobson, "Post-Debate Diagnosis."

And according to Gallup, Romney's well positioned at this point vis-a-vis both Barack Obama and Rick Perry:

More registered voters say they would definitely vote for Mitt Romney or might consider doing so (62%) than say the same about his two main rivals in the 2012 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama (54%) and Republican Rick Perry (53%)...

At the moment, Romney has a greater reservoir of potential voter support than does either of his main rivals for the presidency. To prevail, Romney must convert as much of that potential support as possible to actual support. Should he defeat Perry for the nomination, his level of actual support among Republican voters should increase to levels approaching those Obama currently enjoys among Democratic voters. Perry's level of support among Republicans would probably also approach those levels if he wins the nomination.

Thus, a key to gauging candidate electability and ultimately the winner of the 2012 election will be the candidate's appeal to independent voters. Currently, Romney seems to have an edge in three respects: the greatest number of independent voters would definitely vote for him or consider voting for him; he leads Obama among independent voters in a head-to-head matchup; and he fares slightly better among independent voters in a head-to-head matchup with Obama than does Perry.

I've met Mitt Romney and I like him personally. His flip-flopping bothers me -- it bothers me a great deal -- but he's got the kind of "earnestness" -- to use James Taranto's term -- that lends itself to presidential leadership, and I mean genuine earnestness, not an arrogance that hides inexperience, as we've seen with President Obama.

So, while I don't think Mitt Romney's a genuine conservative, I like him. I've read his book and listened to him speak. He's a patriot and he seems pretty well-grounded concerning the problems facing the country. Let's see how it goes. If it's Romney by next March or so, I won't be be reluctant to support him.

Gold and Silver Plummet in Latest Market Selloff

There are no financial havens at this point.

At Wall Street Journal, "Market Rout Claims New Victim":

The wave of selling that has washed over financial markets in recent weeks swamped precious metals on Friday, sending gold and silver prices plummeting and raising the stakes for key weekend meetings of global finance officials.

In the past week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 6.4%, its worst week since October 2008. Currencies, too, have had a wild ride. The dollar this month has soared against its rivals. The euro has tumbled 6% in September, while emerging currencies like Brazil's real have been punished.

Gold futures dropped 5.8% Friday, the biggest one-day loss in five years, as investors rushed to cash out of some of their most profitable investments in the hopes of making up for losses elsewhere. The decline capped gold's worst week since 1983. Silver was even harder hit, plunging 18% for its largest single-day decline since 1987.

The week highlighted a growing sense of despondency among investors concerned that policy makers have neither the will nor power to juice their economies.

More at that top link.

Palestinians Make Bid for Statehood at United Nations

See New York Times, "Palestinians Request U.N. Status; Powers Press for Talks."

And see Jonathan Tobin, "No Moral Equivalence Between Abbas and Netanyahu."

Little People Rule the World

Kind of depressing, but I can't disagree too much, except who's to say John McCain wouldn't have been better than our President Barack Democrat Dunderhead?

See Margaret Wente, at Toronto's Globe and Mail, "The world’s problems are so big, and our politicians are so small":

For the past 18 years, many of the world’s most powerful men and women have worked strenuously to impose peace on the Israelis and the Palestinians, who together occupy a piece of real estate that’s smaller than Nova Scotia. Yet, peace is as far away as ever. And nothing that happens at the UN is going to change that.

But it’s not just the Middle East they can’t fix. On the biggest issues of the day, our leaders seem more powerless than ever. The European Union is coming unglued. The United States is stuck in the slough of despond. Even if our leaders knew what to do, they seem incapable of doing it.

In the heroic version of history, extraordinary times produce extraordinary men. When the U.S. was on its knees, it produced FDR. When Britain was threatened by Hitler, along came Churchill. Today, great men are absent. Instead, the EU has faceless Eurocrats such as Jean-Claude Trichet, the man who runs the European Central Bank, and divided leaders who continue to insist that Greece will not default, even though everyone knows it’s just a matter of time. Back in the days of 2008, people could at least count on the central banks to get together and figure out a bailout plan. This time, that’s not going to happen.

The EU, as it turns out, has suffered from the same delusions that doomed the Mideast peace talks. The leaders thought you could change human behaviour from the top down. They thought you could make people figure out how to divide up a piece of land and get along. They thought you could make the Greeks behave like Germans because they share a currency. They ignored all the evidence. Culture matters more than policy and good intentions.

The other unpleasant fact of modern times is that some problems are too big to fix. We’re still under the illusion – relentlessly promoted by politicians – that if only we push the right policy buttons or pull the correct levers, our problems will be solved. “Mr. President, we need jobs,” one newspaper headline implored, as if Barack Obama could slide down the chimney and leave some jobs under the Christmas tree. But it’s far from clear that either the Democrats or the Republicans or even Santa Claus himself knows how to speed up job creation. What’s clear is that businesses are unlikely to create jobs so long as stock markets keep plummeting, European banks remain on the verge of failing, and political leaders appear impotent.

Keep reading for that bit on McCain.

NASA Satellite Falls to Earth

I haven't followed this that closely, but it's fascinating.

At WaPo, "As satellite slows, NASA works to peg crash site," and NYT, "It’s Safe to Go Outside: NASA Says Its Falling Satellite Will Miss the U.S."

And at Telegraph UK, "Second giant chunk of space junk heading for Earth."

Childhood Being Eroded by Modern Life

At Telegraph UK, "Childhood is being eroded by a “relentless diet” of advertising, addictive computer games, test-driven education and poor childcare, a powerful lobby of more than 200 experts warns today."

In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, the group of academics, teachers, authors and charity leaders says children’s wellbeing and mental health is being undermined by the pressures of modern life. They urge the Government to address a culture of “too much, too soon” in Britain.

This includes a ban on all forms of advertising aimed at the youngest children, the establishment of a play-based curriculum for infants and a public information campaign warning of the dangers of screen-based entertainment.

The comments came five years after many of the same experts sent similar letter to the Telegraph that criticised politicians and the public for failing to allow children to develop properly at a young age. It led to a debate on the state of childhood in Britain and coincided with the publication of Labour’s Children’s Plan — a policy document covering all aspects of young people’s lives.

But the group, which includes Philip Pullman, the children’s author, Baroness Greenfield, the Oxford University neuroscientist, Lord Layard, emeritus professor of economics at the London School of Economics, and the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Rev Tim Stevens, claims that the “erosion of childhood in Britain has continued apace since 2006”.

I'll take the consumerism over this decrepit nanny statism. Kids should spend more time with their families, or, well, if they have families, and I mean in the traditional sense of a mother and father, with regular employment and good values. Given what we saw with the London riots earlier this year, it can't be said that those prerequisites are firmly in place in Britain.

Rule 5 Weekend Update

My Lindsay Ellingson post garnered some attention from The Other McCain: "Topless Supermodel Lindsay Ellingson Really Wants You to Hit My Tip Jar."

Also, Bob Belvedere linked: "Rule 5 News: 23 September 2011 A.D."

And don't miss Randy's Roundtable, "Thursday Nite Tart: Priscilla Monroe." And Theo's "Red Friday Totties ..."

BONUS: At Astute Bloggers, "GUARANTEED NOT HALAL: Mallika Sherawat."

EXTRA: From BCF, "Michael Coren Gets Beat Up By a Girl."

Prime Minister Benajamin Netanyahu Lays Wreath at National September 11 Memorial

He's a good man.

At CBS News, New York, "Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Bloomberg Visit World Trade Center Memorial."

NewsBusted: 'A new study claims that 4-year-olds who watch SpongeBob may suffer mental impairment'

Via Theo Spark:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu United Nations Address, September 23, 2011

At National Post, "Netanyahu chides UN, seeks renewed talks with Abbas":

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, returned to the United Nations’ General Assembly Friday with all the confidence of a former ambassador, who has frequently used the assembly podium as a pulpit.

With a familiarity that almost bordered on contempt, Mr. Netanyahu, Israel’s ambassador to the UN in 1984-88, upbraided the General Assembly for even entertaining a Palestinian request for statehood.

“The truth is that Israel wants peace; the truth is that I want peace,” he said, adding, “We cannot achieve peace through UN resolutions.”

Mr. Netanyahu criticized the UN, calling it a “theatre of the absurd.” He noted the Security Council is now headed by Lebanon, whose government is controlled by Hezbollah, an internationally recognized terrorist group.

“It was here in 1975 that the age-old yearning of my people to restore our national life in our ancient biblical homeland was branded shamefully as racism,” he said.

“And it was here in 1980, right here, that the historic peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, wasn’t praised, it was denounced. And it is here, year after year, that Israel is unjustly singled out for condemnation … more often than all the other nations of the world combined.”

The Israeli leader’s message was as simple as it was blunt: “The Palestinians should first make peace with Israel and then get their state.”

If that were to happen, “Israel will not be the last state to welcome a Palestinian state into the United Nations,” he said. “We will be the first.”

Also at Legal Insurrection, "Netanyahu at the U.N. – Theater of the Absurd."

Actress Kim Delaney Escorted Off Stage at Liberty Medal Award Ceremony

This is both strange and sad.

At Los Angeles Times, "Kim Delaney delivers incoherent speech; booted from Philly stage."

And another video, showing the audience and former defense secretary Robert Gates, at WPVI-TV Philadelphia.

Also, at Philadelphia Enquirer, "Kim Delaney is escorted off stage at Phila. ceremony":

Her barely audible delivery and long pauses appeared to make Gates and other dignitaries on stage uncomfortable.

In a tweet Thursday night from the auditorium, Inquirer Staff writer Tom Infield reported that Delaney "seemed high or ill, or something. She stumbled in speaking. Had to be led to seat."

No word yet from Delaney's representatives what might have caused her behavior.

Soldier Stephen Hill Honors America: Gay Progressive Hate-Mongers, Not So Much

Okay, let's put some things in perspective.

As I reported last night, there were literally just a couple people who booed at soldier Stephen Hill, according to Sarah Rumpf, who was on hand and responded to the controversy on Twitter. And Sarah expanded on her tweet with a full blog report, "The Truth About the Booing at the Debate," where she indicates:

The debate included video questions that were submitted on YouTube, and one came from a soldier serving in Iraq who is gay and asked about the candidates' opinions on don't ask don't tell. There was audible booing after his question...however, please note that it was not the crowd booing. It was only one or two people.

I was at the debate, in the audience on the right hand side about halfway back (here's my tweet of the video screen that was right in front of us). The person who booed was just a few rows in front of us. The booing got an immediate and angry reaction from nearly everyone sitting around him, who hissed and shushed at him. Lots of loud gasps, "Shhhh!" "No!" "Shut up, you idiot!" etc.

So, not only was it just "one or two people," their boos were immediately repudiated by those sitting nearby.

Now, this episode is getting a lot of attention online, and as is usual with progressive extremists, the commentary is both dishonest and hysterical. Excitable Andrew Sullivan is particularly over the top, at "The Anger Builds." Sullivan's post is ugly on a number of counts. He attempts to slur the GOP as "a religion." He attacks Rick Santorum's comments as a "despicable lie." And he claims that "Republicans don't actually deep down care for the troops, if that means gay troops. Their constant posturing military patriotism has its limits." And on top of that:

The shocking silence on the stage - the fact that no one challenged this outrage - also tells me that this kind of slur is not regarded as a big deal. When it came to it, even Santorum couldn't sanction firing all those servicemembers who are now proudly out. But that's because he was forced to focus not on his own Thomist abstractions, but on an actual person. Throughout Republican debates, gays are discussed as if we are never in the audience, never actually part of the society, never fully part of families, never worthy of even a scintilla of respect. When you boo a servicemember solely because he's gay, you are saying he is beneath contempt, that nothing he does or has done can counterweigh the vileness of his sexual orientation.

This is completely decontextualized and patently absurd. Not only do we have Sarah Rumpf's first hand report of the audience reaction to the (one or two) boos, but it turns out that Rick Santorum didn't even hear them. He's interviewed by Megyn Kelly at the clip. She correctly observes that there were just a couple of people who booed, and Santorum responds that he didn't hear booing, and "when you're in that kind of environment, you're sort of focusing on the question and formulating your answer..." And Santorum repeatedly notes that "this man is serving our country" and he thanks him for his service.

So, contrary to Andrew Sullivan, it's simply not true that Republicans deem gay soldiers "never worthy of even a scintilla of respect." If Santorum is to be faulted, it's simply that he didn't acknowledge the soldier for his service. But that's a question of Santorum's personal decorum, and upon reflection, he clearly regrets how he came off and has corrected the record in his interview with Megyn Kelly. But what's key is the progressive left's willfully false attacks on Republicans. David Nir does the same thing at Daily Kos, "In face of boos for gay soldier, Republicans stay silent." And Greg Sargent attacks Republicans along these lines while fully cognizant that the outrage is bogus:

It would obviously be unfair to use this episode to tar all Republicans. Some, to their credit, have already registered their dismay about what happened. Even audience members reacted badly and told the hecklers to shut up. But it’s perfectly fair to see it as representative of the caliber of the candidates that stood on the stage last night.

No, it would not be fair, for the reasons that Rick Santorum indicates. The debate environment is basically a high stakes performance. The boos might not have registered with the candidates. And they likely were trying to anticipate the line of questioning and the direction of the debate rather than the appropriate salute to a soldier who submitted a question via YouTube. That's not fair, perhaps, but it's a long way from indicating that the Republican Party is filled with hordes of anti-gay bigots whose "posturing military patriotism has its limits." The truth is, as I've pointed out many times, the gay progressive left is a hate-cult powered by intolerance of difference. What bigotry we learned out this episode came from those on the radical left. And the outrage is especially rich in Andrew Sullivan's case, considering he's probably the last person who should be lecturing others on "gay sexual misconduct."

Pro-Terror Students Found Guilty in Michael Oren Protest Case at UC Irvine

At LAT, "'Irvine 11' jury finds all 10 students guilty." (At Memeorandum.)

Pamela has the background on the Irvine 11: "ACTION ALERT: PROSECUTE MUSLIM STUDENT UNION FOR FREE SPEECH ATTACK."

And I reported previouslly on Taher Herzallah, president of UCR's Muslim Student Union and Irvine 11 defendant: "UCLA’s Palestine Awareness Week: Students for the Extermination of Israel."

Bristol Palin: 'Is it Because You're a Homosexual?'

Bristol Palin asked a perfectly good question. And of course, "homosexual" isn't a slur, but the progressive media's gay-hate enablers are on the case nevertheless. At Hollywood Gossip, for example, "Bristol Palin Harassed by Heckler, Responds With Unnecessary Gay Remark." And The Examiner, "Bristol Palin makes homophobic remarks during barroom altercation." Plus, New York Magazine calls it "polite homophobia":

Palin, who is flanked by her own film crew and the paparazzi, is clearly playing up the confrontation for the cameras, barely holding back a smile as she engages in an argument that can only go ugly places. That said, besides the relatively polite homophobia, her defense is spirited and her opponent can barely put together a sentence. It almost looks staged as Bristol taunts the guy until he screams, "Fuck you, you fucking bitch!" There couldn't be more perfect fuel for the Palin family fire.

Again, nothing homophobic about asking that. And note this from a decent fellow in the comments at Towleroad:

Sorry, folks, but that guy was way out of line. From what I saw in this video, he was the one behaving poorly, while Ms. Palin was just defending herself and her mother. I'm not fan of Sarah Palin, but that doesn't mean it is ok to heckle and harrass her daughter, and it certainly wasn't ok to heckle her about her relationship with Levi. That guy set gay rights back a few steps with his bitter, hysterical behavior.

More at ABC News, "Bristol Palin Gets in Verbal Brawl at Bull Riding Bar."