After Shellacking, Democrats Shifting to 'McGovern Model' for 2016

I expect regressive Democrats to increasingly rally around Senator Elizabeth Warren over the next couple of years, pulling the party further to the left. And whether or not "Fauxcahontas" runs in 2016, the Dems are positioning themselves the way George McGovern did heading into the 1972 presidential election: as an ideologically extreme party out of touch with Main Street economic concerns. As such, the Republicans could deliver a massive thumping to the Democrats next time around, perhaps not as dramatic as the one Richard Nixon delivered to McGovern, but certainly for the same reasons. The Democrats will be split between ideological purists and political pragmatists, and the wisdom of the latter won't become evident until a couple election cycles of far-left repudiation by the voters.

An any case, here's the NYT, "After Losses, Liberal and Centrist Democrats Square Off on Strategy."

Arrogance Plus Deception = #ObamaCare.

At the Chicago Tribune, "Arrogance plus deception equals Obamacare. Ask Gruber."

The Loneliest President Since Nixon

From Peggy Noonan, at WSJ, "Facing adversity, Obama has no idea how to respond":

Seven years ago I was talking to a longtime Democratic operative on Capitol Hill about a politician who was in trouble. The pol was likely finished, he said. I was surprised. Can’t he change things and dig himself out? No. “People do what they know how to do.” Politicians don’t have a vast repertoire. When they get in a jam they just do what they’ve always done, even if it’s not working anymore.

Seven years ago I was talking to a longtime Democratic operative on Capitol Hill about a politician who was in trouble. The pol was likely finished, he said. I was surprised. Can’t he change things and dig himself out? No. “People do what they know how to do.” Politicians don’t have a vast repertoire. When they get in a jam they just do what they’ve always done, even if it’s not working anymore.

This came to mind when contemplating President Obama. After a devastating election, he is presenting himself as if he won. The people were not saying no to his policies, he explained, they would in fact like it if Republicans do what he tells them.

You don’t begin a new relationship with a threat, but that is what he gave Congress: Get me an immigration bill I like or I’ll change U.S. immigration law on my own.

Mr. Obama is doing what he knows how to do—stare them down and face them off. But his circumstances have changed. He used to be a conquering hero, now he’s not. On the other hand he used to have to worry about public support. Now, with no more elections before him, he has the special power of the man who doesn’t care.

I have never seen a president in exactly the position Mr. Obama is, which is essentially alone. He’s got no one with him now. The Republicans don’t like him, for reasons both usual and particular: They have had no good experiences with him. The Democrats don’t like him, for their own reasons plus the election loss. Before his post-election lunch with congressional leaders, he told the press that he will judiciously consider any legislation, whoever sends it to him, Republicans or Democrats. His words implied that in this he was less partisan and more public-spirited than the hacks arrayed around him. It is for these grace notes that he is loved. No one at the table looked at him with colder, beadier eyes than outgoing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , who clearly doesn’t like him at all. The press doesn’t especially like the president; in conversation they evince no residual warmth. This week at the Beijing summit there was no sign the leaders of the world had any particular regard for him. They can read election returns. They respect power and see it leaking out of him. If Mr. Obama had won the election they would have faked respect and affection.

Vladimir Putin delivered the unkindest cut, patting Mr. Obama’s shoulder reassuringly. Normally that’s Mr. Obama’s move, putting his hand on your back or shoulder as if to bestow gracious encouragement, needy little shrimp that you are. It’s a dominance move. He’s been doing it six years. This time it was Mr. Putin doing it to him. The president didn’t like it

From Reuters: “‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’ Putin was overheard saying in English in Obama’s general direction, referring to the ornate conference room. ‘Yes,’ Obama replied, coldly, according to journalists who witnessed the scene.”

The last time we saw a president so alone it was Richard Nixon, at the end of his presidency, when the Democrats had turned on him, the press hated him, and the Republicans were fleeing. It was Sen. Barry Goldwater, the GOP’s standard-bearer in 1964, and House Minority Leader John Rhodes, also of Arizona, who went to the White House to tell Nixon his support in Congress had collapsed, they would vote to impeach. Years later Goldwater called Nixon “The world’s biggest liar.”

Obama's a petulant bitch --- and a freakin' national disgrace.

More.

New RNC Video Hammers Democrats Over Jonathan Gruber #ObamaCare Comments

The Dems are getting Grubered, heh.

'Jonathan Gruber is One of Most Respected Economist in the World!'

That's the quote from outgoing Senate Majority Dickhead Harry Reid, on the MIT economist suddenly Democrats "have never heard of."

Watch:



And ICYMI, "#ObamaCare Sold on a Pack of Lies."

Keira Knightley's Topless Stunt: Valid Protest or Shameless Self-Promotion?

Everybody's doing topless shoots nowadays. Of course it's promotional. Some folks thought Ms. Knightly was unimpressive in her debut, but beauty's in the eye of the beholder.

In any case, here's Charlotte Allen, at the Los Angeles Times.

And previously, "Keira Knightley for Interview Magazine September 2014."

Donald Sutherland Calls for 'Revolution' Among American Youth

I actually agree with Donald Sutherland on this, although I think we differ on the kind of revolution that needs to happen.

At Truth Revolt.

#ObamaCare Sold on a Pack of Lies

I was trying to avoid the whole idiot-gasbag-liar Jonathan Gruber issue (since the fact that lies were used to pass ObamaCare is like so 2009), but if Charles Krauthammer's weighing in ... well, let's just say he's got my vote.

At WaPo, "The Gruber Confession":

Dude RT @jaketapper: Obamacare architect #Gruber in 6th video: 'Mislabeling' helped us get rid of tax breaks http://t.co/DEfjxzAW47

— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) November 14, 2014

It’s not exactly the Ems Dispatch (the diplomatic cable Bismarck doctored to provoke the 1870 Franco-Prussian War). But what the just-resurfaced Gruber Confession lacks in world-historical consequence, it makes up for in world-class cynicism. This October 2013 video shows MIT Professor Jonathan Gruber, a principal architect of Obamacare, admitting that, in order to get it passed, the law was made deliberately obscure and deceptive. It constitutes the ultimate vindication of the charge that Obamacare was sold on a pack of lies.

“Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage,” said Gruber. “Basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical to getting the thing to pass.” This was no open-mic gaffe. It was a clear, indeed enthusiastic, admission to an academic conference of the mendacity underlying Obamacare.

First, Gruber said, the bill’s authors manipulated the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which issues gold-standard cost estimates of any legislative proposal: “This bill was written in a tortured way to make sure CBO did not score the mandate as taxes.” Why? Because “if CBO scored the mandate as taxes, the bill dies.” And yet, the president himself openly insisted that the individual mandate — what you must pay the government if you fail to buy health insurance — was not a tax.

Worse was the pretense that Obamacare wouldn’t cost anyone anything. On the contrary, it’s a win-win, insisted President Obama, promising that the “typical family” would save $2,500 on premiums every year.

Skeptics like me pointed out the obvious: You can’t subsidize 30 million uninsured without someone paying something. Indeed, Gruber admits, Obamacare was a huge transfer of wealth — which had to be hidden from the American people, because “if you had a law which . . . made explicit that healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it would not have passed.”

Remember: The whole premise of Obamacare was that it would help the needy, but if you were not in need, if you liked what you had, you would be left alone. Which is why Obama kept repeating — PolitiFact counted 31 times — that “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan.”

But of course you couldn’t, as millions discovered when they were kicked off their plans last year. Millions more were further shocked when they discovered major hikes in their premiums and deductibles. It was their wealth that was being redistributed.

As NBC News and others reported last year, the administration knew this all along. But White House political hands overrode those wary about the president’s phony promise. In fact, Obama knew the falsity of his claim as far back as February 2010, when, at a meeting with congressional leaders, he agreed that millions would lose their plans.

Now, it’s not unconstitutional to lie. Nor are laws enacted by means of deliberate deception thereby rendered invalid. But it is helpful for citizens to know the cynicism with which the massive federalization of their health care was crafted...

Keep reading.

Femen Crucifix Protest at the Vatican

This is actually one of their more grotesque protests --- and I normally give these women the benefit of the doubt.

At Gateway Pundit, "Topless Femen Activists Simulate Anal Sex With Crucifix at Vatican Protest (Video)."

Also at Deutsche Welle‎, "Femen ladies in leather skirts protest at Vatican - boobs and all":

Bare-chested and wearing leather skirts, members of a women's rights activist group gathered at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican on Friday to … ehm protest. Femen style.

Also at Femen's website, "NO POPE IN THE PARLIAMENT! NO RELIGION IN POLITICS!"

Senior Democrats Slam Congressional Leaders After Party's Epic Thrashing in Midterm Elections

At the Hill, "Dems fault leaders for brushing off losses."

The criticisms are going to fall on deaf (and dumb) ears. With the Obama-Dems it's like a runaway train to far-left extremist oblivion.

Obama Looking to Cement His Legacy, Democrat Party Fortunes Be Damned

Those good old boys at the Old Gray Lady are always good for some pro-Obama framing.

In taking his administration farther to the left, ignoring the lessons of the Democrats' historic midterm shellacking, the president hopes to secure his progressive legacy. Meanwhile, this just opens up the political target on Hillary's back. Well, either Hillary or whichever unlucky Democrat bastard gets to carry the party's standard into 2016.

Americans want jobs, economic growth and rising wages. Instead, Obama's ramming down unlawful executive amnesty, bogus climate change agreements, and Internet "net neutrality." I'm sure that just bursts the cockles of economically stressed Americans across the country.

But hey, The One's smarter than everyone else, and NYT's all jiggy with it. Heh, as if we should be expecting something else.

See, "Obama’s Moves Defying Label of Lame Duck."

Obama's Climate Accord Sets Democrats Up for Failure

Hey, if anyone's a true believer it's The One in the Oval Office.

But Democrat strategist John Podesta is the main brain behind making global warming a Democrat hot-button issue for 2016. Podesta's supposedly going to chair a Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, so he's going to be personally responsible for setting her up at the GOP's whipping girl. And boy, top Republicans are chomping at the bit on this one.

At NYT, "In Climate Deal With China, Obama May Set 2016 Theme."

PREVIOUSLY: "Obama's Green Leap Forward."

Obama's Green Leap Forward

So, yeah, Obama learned nothing from the left's midterm debacle. It's almost like he wants his party to fail in 2016 and beyond.

At WSJ, "Obama trades higher U.S. energy costs now for distant Chinese promises":

Meaningless global warming promises are much easier than corralling weapons of mass destruction in North Korea, or convincing Beijing to fight Islamic State, or for that matter stopping Chinese cyber-attacks on U.S. military and corporate targets. Mr. Xi must have been delighted to see a U.S. President agree to make America less economically competitive in return for rhetorical bows to doing something someday about climate change.

More.

Bill Cassidy Opens Up 16-Point Lead Over Mary Landrieu in #LASen

Oh boy, she's toast.

At the Hill, "Cassidy leads Landrieu in internal poll":

Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) has opened up a 16 point lead over Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) in their Louisiana Senate runoff, according to an internal poll conducted on behalf of the Cassidy campaign and obtained by The Hill.

Cassidy takes 56.6 percent against Landrieu’s 40.5 percent in the poll conducted by Magellan Strategies. While internal polls should be viewed with some skepticism, it’s the first head-to-head poll to be released in the runoff period. The RealClearPolitics average of polls taken before Election Day showed Cassidy up by only 5 percent in the head-to-head matchup.

A source close to the Landrieu campaign strongly pushed back against the poll, arguing that it’s an automated, push-button poll conducted by a conservative outlet, it used loaded terms to survey only issues pertinent to the Cassidy campaign, and that it underestimates Landrieu’s popularity among African American voters.
On Election Day, Landrieu took 43 percent in a field where Republicans split the vote. Cassidy trailed in at 42 percent, and Tea Party candidate Rob Maness at 14 percent. Louisiana’s election rules require a run-off on December 6 between the top two candidates since no candidate topped 50 percent of the vote.

Maness has since rallied conservatives to back Cassidy. Influential conservatives like Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) and Sarah Palin have endorsed Cassidy and are participating in “unity rallies” to help him unseat Landrieu.

Louisiana Democrats say that Republicans are late to rally behind Cassidy because he doesn’t inspire confidence within GOP circles. They also point to Maness’s double-digit support in the general election and say those Louisiana voters won’t turn out for Cassidy in the runoff just because national Republicans have now taken an interest in the race.

According to the poll, Landrieu’s big lead among African-American voters – she takes almost 90 percent in the poll to Cassidy’s 7 percent – isn’t enough to make up for Cassidy’s strength among white voters, who in exit polls made up about 75 percent of the electorate in 2014.

Yeah, those pesky white voters. They're really the bane of the Democrats these days, lol.

Nicole Neal vs. Rosie Jones

Some evening lovies.

At Egotastic!, "Nicole Neal Dares to Challenge the Chest of Rosie Jones."

VIDEO: Nancy Pelosi Whines She Didn't Make the Cover of Time in '06, Cries 'Sexism'!

She's a freakin' sore loser, and a disgusting faux "war on women" monger.

Seriously, this takes a lot of gumption.

Waaahh!! Mitch McConnell got a Time cover but I didn't in '06 so it must be sexism! Notice me, dammit! I'm an historic figure, waaaahh!

And all on the same day that the Democrat conference picked her again, despite her epic leadership failures, as Democrat Minority Leader. They say we should expect more lightning strikes because of "global warming." With luck, maybe one of those bolts will take out Pelosi and give San Francisco voters a chance at new representation.

Here's the clip at CNN:

Amazon's Electronics Gift Guide

Your link for shopping today, Presents for Productivity - Amazon's Electronics Gift Guide.

'Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away...'

Aerosmith, "Dream On," from yesterday morning at the Sound L.A.

Join Together
The Who
9:53 AM

Turn It On Again
Genesis
9:41 AM

Start Me Up
The Rolling Stones
9:37 AM

One Way Out
The Allman Brothers Band
9:32 AM

Magic Man
Heart
9:21 AM

My Life
Billy Joel
9:16 AM

Dream On
Aerosmith
9:12 AM

All Along the Watchtower
Jimi Hendrix
9:08 AM

Crumblin' Down
John Mellencamp
9:04 AM

Why the Republicans Won

From über leftist Elizabeth Drew, at the New York Review of Books.

She's delusional, and analyses like this will only work to keep the Democrats in the minority that much longer.

The Republican sweep, Obama’s blunders, and the influence of dark money: @ElizabethDrewOH on the midterms http://t.co/l7mDCmBnTq

— NY Review of Books (@nybooks) November 11, 2014

Are Democrats Losing the Youth Vote?

From Mark Bauerlein, at the New York Times.

Actually, Dems aren't losing young voters so much as having achieved most of the political successes important to that demographic, especially on social issues like homosexual marriage. It means that --- and I think Bauerlein gets this right --- Millennials are up for grabs, much like the most recent Harvard Millennial poll indicated.

So while this is moderately good news for Republicans, it frankly should have establishment Democrats freakin'. That is, it should have Democrats freakin'. So far, the results of the midterm catastrophe haven't shaken loose the party's delusions of political superiority.

The Kremlin to Resume Long-Range Bomber Flights to U.S. Shores

Barack built this.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Russia resuming Cold War-era bomber flights close to U.S. shores":

Since the Crimea seizure and the violent clashes between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine spurred a tense new crisis in Russia's relations with the West, the Kremlin's air force has been conducting what European monitors see as provocative forays into and near the airspace of its neighbors.

On Monday, the London-based European Leadership Network reported a sharp increase in Russian air operations that have been condemned by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, including violations of other countries' airspace, narrowly missed collisions, buzzing of NATO and Ukrainian warships and mock bombing runs. Three of the 40 incidents cited in the report were said to have had a "high probability" of causing casualties or military confrontation.

NATO reported last month that the number of incidents involving Russian planes and ships that it considered provocative has tripled this year, to more than 100, including mass aerial maneuvers that posed risks to civilian air traffic in northern and eastern Europe.

More.

Stella Maxwell, Behati Prinsloo and Monika Jagaciak

For Victoria's Secret:

Madison Rising Tribute to the U.S. Marines

Via Theo Spark, "Happy 239th Birthday to the United States Marines from Madison Rising..."

Rosetta Mission’s Probe Lands on Comet

At WSJ, "European Space Agency’s Philae Is First Craft to Land on Comet in Historic Moment for Space Exploration."

Plus, video at Euro News, "Rosetta lander Philae heads towards comet surface."

The Demise of the White Democratic Voter

This is a pretty perceptive piece, from Thomas Edsall, at the New York Times.

We've already been hearing about how the Dems are suffering weakening support among the white working class. See, for example, "Progressive Postmortem: Democrat-Uterus Party May Have Lost White Working-Class Men Once and For All." What Edsall does is indicate how in 2014 Republicans moderated their positions on issues that anger the socially licentious left without losing the support of the very conservative and evangelical voters on the conservative right:

Republicans are not satisfied with winning 62 percent of the white vote. To counter the demographic growth of Democratic constituencies whose votes threaten Republican success in high-turnout presidential elections, Republicans have begun a concerted effort to rupture the partisan loyalty of the remaining white Democratic voters. Their main target is socially liberal, fiscally conservative suburbanites, the weakest reeds in the Democratic coalition. These middle-income white voters do not share the acute economic needs of so-called downscale Democratic voters and they are less reliant on government services.

The Republican strategy to win over these more culturally tolerant, but still financially pressed, white voters is to continue to focus on material concerns – on anxiety about rising tax burdens, for example — while downplaying the preoccupation of many of the most visible Republicans with social, moral and cultural repression.

The current effectiveness of the anti-tax strategy was demonstrated in the unexpected victory of Larry Hogan, the Republican gubernatorial candidate in deep blue Maryland, who defeated Anthony Brown, the highly favored Democratic lieutenant governor.

“The average Marylander sees a governor and legislature willing to impose record tax increases on the rest of us that we don’t need, don’t want and can’t afford,” Hogan declared at the start of his campaign and repeated relentlessly until Election Day.

Hogan won by decisively carrying all the majority white suburbs surrounding Baltimore city, including Howard County, a former bastion of suburban Democratic strength.

In Colorado, Cory Gardner, the Republican Senate nominee, joined the Republican assault on Obamacare and taxes:

The President’s healthcare law has added countless new taxes to millions of Americans, and economic growth will continue to struggle until we can accomplish real, meaningful tax reform. The future of our economy depends on it.

Significantly, Gardner also stiff-armed the Christian right on issues of contraception and abortion in his successful two-point win over Mark Udall, the Democratic incumbent. Gardner highlighted a more culturally tolerant approach when he endorsed over the counter access to the “morning after” pill – a form of contraception many in the right to life movement consider a form of abortion – and when he renounced past sponsorship of a “personhood” constitutional amendment titled “The Life Begins at Conception Act.”

In a mea culpa comment rarely heard in campaigns, Gardner told The Denver Post:

I’ve learned to listen. I don’t get everything right the first time. There are far too many politicians out there who take the wrong position and stick with it and never admit that they should do something different.

Despite this, not only did the Christian right stick with Gardner, but white evangelicals provided his margin of victory. These religious voters, who made up 25 percent of the Colorado midterm electorate, voted for Gardner over Udall by a resounding 70 points, 83 to 13. This margin was enough to compensate for Udall’s 20-point victory, 57 percent to 37 percent, among the remaining 75 percent of the Colorado electorate.

The clear implication of these results for Republican candidates running in 2016 and beyond is that you can break with conservative orthodoxy on some issues to better appeal to a general election electorate without paying the price of losing white Christian support.

Emphasis added.

Via Memeorandum.

Dems Learn No Lessons from Defeat

From Jonathan Tobin, at Commentary:

The contrast between the Republican responses to their election defeats couldn’t be greater. In the aftermath of the 2012 elections, the party underwent a collective soul searching experience that is still resonating in debates about immigration reform and other issues. Though there isn’t complete consensus about what to do, the party’s concern for recruiting good candidates and seeking to stop bad ones from gaining nominations was a start.

But Democrats don’t seem much in the mood for a similar round of introspection. Instead, they prefer to wait until 2016 when they are confident that Hillary Clinton will lead them to victory. That is a possibility. But a smarter party or one that was actually interested in ideas might consider that the loss of so many congressional seats, governors, and state legislative chambers should motivate them to do some soul searching.

It will take a presidential defeat in 2016 to force Democrats to undergo the kind of self-examination that Republicans are struggling with. But if they do, the debris from the decline for the party that Barack Obama’s unpopularity has wrought may take them more than one election cycle to fix. Nothing in politics is permanent, but there is a price that must be paid for ignoring election results. Whether they like it or not, that is one lesson Democrats may eventually learn.

A great piece. RTWT.

Freshman Orientation on Capitol Hill

I like this, at NYT, "Rookies Prepare for Life at Bottom of Congress’s Food Chain."

My new representative, Republican Mimi Walters, was interviewed for the story.

Keri Russell at Glamour 2014 Women of the Year Awards in New York

At Egotastic!, "Keri Russell Looking Incredibly Hot In Leather."

Public Approval of Democrats Falls to Record Lows After the Midterm Elections!

It's hard out there for Che-wannabes and Trotskyite regressives.

At Gallup, "Democratic Party Favorable Rating Falls to Record Low":

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After the midterm elections that saw the Democratic Party suffer significant losses in Congress, a record-low 36% of Americans say they have a favorable opinion of the party, down six percentage points from before the elections. The Republican Party's favorable rating, at 42%, is essentially unchanged from 40%. This marks the first time since September 2011 that the Republican Party has had a higher favorability rating than the Democratic Party.

Keep reading.

Even self-identified Democrats are dissing the party of our Marxist overlord Barack "The One" Obama.

Doh! Dems Kinda Screwed Up by Dissing Voters' Extreme Economic Anxieties in the Midterms

Yeah, you know, all the polls showed the economy as the Number One issue facing the voters, but the smarter-than-thou Democrats dissed voters concerns to push the stale "war on woman" narrative, not to mention the same warmed-over wage equality bullshit. You can't push for an increase in the minimum wage when people have no jobs in the first place.

From Charlie Cook, at National Journal, "Bad Decisions Came Back to Haunt Democrats in Midterms":

Seventy-eight percent of voters said they were either "very" or "somewhat" worried about the direction of the economy for the next year in the National Election Pool exit poll for ABC, AP, CBS, CNN, Fox, and NBC. Only 21 percent said they were "not too worried" or "not at all worried" about it. Only 29 percent of those polled said they thought the state of the economy was either "excellent" or "good," while 70 percent said either "not so good" or "poor." Just 32 percent felt that the economy is "getting better," the same percentage said it was "getting worse." Thirty-four percent of those polled said the economy was staying about the same. Only 28 percent of respondents said their family's financial situation is better now than it was two years ago; 25 percent said worse, and 45 percent said about the same. Just 32 percent said they thought the U.S economic system is fair to most Americans, compared to 63 percent who say it favors the wealthy. Finally, and most devastating, just 22 percent said that life for the next generation will be better than it is today. More than twice as many—48 percent—said it will be worse, while 27 percent said it will be about the same. As has been reported often, real median family income is no higher today than it was in 2000.

Obama, congressional Democrats, and members of the Democratic Party outside of Washington are paying dearly for having simply checked the box on an economic stimulus package in early 2009 and then quickly moving on to climate change. They passed a cap-and-trade bill through the House—making most Democratic House members walk that plank in favor of the bill—before it became painfully obvious, in about five minutes, that the bill had no chance in the Senate.

In mid-summer 2009, polls universally showed that Americans wanted the president, along with the overwhelmingly Democratic Congress, to focus on the economy and job creation. Instead, in its infinite wisdom, Congress chose to focus almost exclusively and obsessively on health care reform. Although this was a worthy objective, the effort would likely have been better spent in a time when people weren't so worried about their economic well-being. This horrific choice, to focus on the Affordable Care Act rather than the economy, besides costing Democrats their House majority—not to mention platoons of Democratic governors and state legislators who would have been handy in drawing the congressional redistricting maps the next year—created scar tissue that remains to this day.

Americans resent the policy choices that Obama and congressional Democrats made early on. Voters saw little action that would have turned the economy around and created jobs for many working- and middle-class Americans. Their struggle continues to this day, and it cost Democrats their Senate majority last week.

Choices have consequences, and elections have consequences. The decisions of 2009 and 2010 just keep on having consequences for Democrats...

Cook, a leftist, finishes off his piece with a cowardly jab at the Republicans, about how they're damaged goods, that voters still hate them, blah blah. Honestly, if they hated the GOP so much you might think it odd that a majority now says they want Republicans in Congress to lead the country forward in the coming year. But I'll give it up for Cook on his perceptive commentary on the idiot Democrat indifference to Americans' economic pain.

Stunning Goddess Jessica Alba at Baby2Baby Gala in Los Angeles

Baby2Baby's a Los Angeles non-profit that helps provide the bare necessities to babies from disadvantaged families.

And they're not kidding about a gala get-together. More charity for the disadvantaged please!

In any event, Ms. Alba is glorious.

At Popoholic, "Jessica Alba Busts Out Her Glorious Cleavage!"

History Might Not Be on the Democrats' Side

Well, it's sure not looking that way right now, but it's hard to make predictions, especially about the future (with apologies to Yogi Berra).

From David Harsanyi, at the Federalist, "Democrats: History Is On Our Side. History: Good Luck With That":

Just because you’ve chosen a self-satisfying term to describe your ideology and it happens to contain the word “progress,” [it] doesn’t necessarily mean you’re ideas are more enlightened or destined to move forward.

Ouch!

In the Mail: John Nagl, Knife Fights

Available at Amazon, Knife Fights: A Memoir of Modern War in Theory and Practice.

More, Shop Amazon Fashion - Men's Holiday Wish List

Liberals Leftists Are Killing the Liberal Arts

Christ, we're doomed.

From Harvey Silverglate, at WSJ, "Hypersensitivity to the trauma allegedly inflicted by listening to controversial ideas approaches a strange form of derangement — a disorder whose lethal spread in academia grows by the day."

A Smith College alumna is labeled a racist for defending free speech. http://t.co/SkWVoK7Qu4
— WSJ Editorial Page (@WSJopinion) November 10, 2014

You're All I've Got Tonight

From yesterday, during daddy chauffeur hour. (I was off yesterday for Veterans Day, but my boys weren't. November 11th is Armistice Day, and Irvine schools observe the holiday today.)

At the Sound L.A.

The Logical Song
Supertramp
9:56 AM

Dixie/Sweet Home Alabama
Lynyrd Skynyrd
9:42 AM

American Pie
Don McLean
9:33 AM

Back In Black
AC/DC
9:30 AM

Free Ride
The Edgar Winter Group
9:19 AM

You're All I've Got Tonight
The Cars
9:15 AM

Tumbling Dice
The Rolling Stones
9:12 AM

American Woman
The Guess Who
9:08 AM

Beautiful Girls
Van Halen
9:04 AM

Somebody's Baby
Jackson Browne
9:00 AM

Tell Women Not to Rape!

At CNN, the growing list of female sex offenders.

The New Era of Communication Among Americans

Somehow I don't think this is all good.

At Gallup:

Somehow frustrating the older gen RT @GallupNews: The Trend Line: Younger Americans Text More, Speak Less. WATCH: http://t.co/sSDDEX6N2H!

— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) November 10, 2014

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Texting, using a cellphone and sending and reading email messages are the most frequently used forms of nonpersonal communication for adult Americans. Between 37% and 39% of all Americans said they used each of these "a lot" on the day prior to being interviewed. That compares with less than 10% of the population who said they used a home landline phone or Twitter "a lot."

Keep reading.

Brianne Howey for Maxim

"A behind the scenes look at the blonde bombshell of Horrible Bosses 2."

Nice:

Jihadists in Egypt Pledge Loyalty to #ISIS

Lovely.

At the New York Times, "Militant Group in Egypt Vows Loyalty to ISIS."

Narcissistic Obama 'Willing to Blow His Party and the Country Up'

I love Pat Caddell, heh.

Via Nice Deb:

Terror Decentral

From Caroline Glick:

In the postmortems of the terrorist car attacks in Jerusalem, it is easy to see the writing on the wall.

Ibrahim al-Akary, the terrorist who on Wednesday ran over crowds of people waiting to cross the street and catch the Jerusalem Light Rail, was the brother of one of the terrorist murderers freed in exchange for IDF hostage Gilad Schalit. He had placed the photograph on his Facebook page of Moataz Hejazi, the terrorist killed by police after shooting Yehuda Glick outside the Begin Heritage Center last Wednesday.

A few days before Abdur Rahman Slodi got into his car and mowed down three-month-old Chaya Zissel Braun and a dozen other pedestrians two weeks ago, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas exhorted the Palestinians to prevent Jews from visiting the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, by all means possible.

Slodi had served time in prison for terrorist offenses and was active on social media where he expressed murderous hatred for Jews and a desire to kill them.

So yes, the writing was on the wall. But unfortunately, the writing is on all the walls, or Facebook walls. It is not at all clear how Israeli security services could have known to distinguish these men from the thousands of other Palestinians and Jerusalem Arabs who hate Israel, support the murder of Jews and identify with various terrorist organizations.

On Thursday security forces arrested several people in villages around Hebron with suspected ties to Akary. So he may not have been acting on his own. But all the same, neither he nor Slodi seem to have been directed to carry out their attacks by a cell commander who himself was directed by a higher level terrorist operative. Rather, in all likelihood, something triggered both men to carry out attacks in a wholly independent or semi-independent manner.

The question is, what was the trigger and how was it pulled?

Uh, Palestinian Jew-hatred?

Nah. Can't be that.

But continue reading, just in case.

Countdown to Black Friday

At Amazon, Shop Amazon - Countdown to Black Friday Deals in Camera, Photo and Video.

Can You Hear Our Marines?

Via Theo Spark:

Palestinians Murder Israelis in Stabbing Attacks

At NYT, "Two Israelis Die in Separate Stabbings by Palestinians."

Also at the Times of Israel, "Young woman killed in West Bank stabbing attack," and "IDF soldier stabbed in Tel Aviv attack dies of wounds."

Plus, video via Reuters, "One dead, three wounded in Palestinian stabbing attacks: Israeli Police."

Khamenei's Genocidal Ideology

A rather startling piece, from Michael Rubin, at Commentary.

Binky Felstead

She's got an interesting name, and then some.

At London's Daily Mail, "Binky Felstead poses in lingerie for a sexy calendar shoot":

The 24-year-old reality star has posed for a 2015 calendar. Binky says: 'They are the most sensual pictures I have ever shot.'

Debbie Wasserman Schultz Issues the Democrat Party Autopsy!

Well, it's a preliminary Democrat Party autopsy.

The DNC chairwoman announces that she's initiating a "top-to-bottom" review of what went wrong last Tuesday.

But you'll have to watch it at the link. She's just too damned butt-ugly to embed this clip, heh: "A Message from Chair Wasserman Schultz."

OMG! Breitbart Loretta Lynch 'Correction' is the Biggest News Since Forever to Infinity!!

It's been a terrible week for leftists.

The voters delivered the worst midterm shellacking in history. President Obama was hammered with a "wall-to-wall" repudiation the likes of which we'll never see again. The left's "War on Women" lays splattered on the floor and abandoned like a botched late-term abortion, and the Democrat Party establishment is being mercilessly ridiculed as an old white people's party that been's hollowed out like a rotten vegetable.

Heh, good times, I know.

But not so great for the far-left fever swamp losers, a coalition of dirtbags now cheering a rather routine correction to a Breitbart article by Warner Todd Huston. Oh sure, the Breitbart team might have done a wee bit more fact-checking before posting the hit piece, but I'm going out on a limb here to suggest that this isn't the most important story of the day. It's pretty pathetic, indeed. The idiot Democrat losers are still crushed from the midterms, so by the looks of Memeorandum I guess a journalistic flop at the hated Breitbart is cause for celebration.

Oh, how low the once mighty "majority of the ascendant" has fallen. I almost feel sorry for the bastards, except, well, not. Heh.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Killed in Iraq Airstrikes?

Well, numerous reports indicate that al-Baghdadi has been hit.

If he's dead that would finally be something for which Obama could claim credit --- and boy, does he need something, anything!

Here's CNN:

Pot's Not Cool — It Shrinks Your Brain!

Perfect for leftist Democrat potheads.

At WaPo, "Marijuana is no longer illegal in D.C. — but it’s still lame everywhere."

And here's the chaser, at LAT, "Regular pot smokers have shrunken brains, study says."

Smaller brains, heh. I'm sure that helps explain why Barack "Choom" Obama is such a terrible president.




IMAGE HAT TIP: Moonbatty, "The Choom-Head in Chief."

Multicultural Explosion Brings Growing Pains Across the U.S.

Look, I'm for pulling back on immigration.

We need to assimilate those who're already here. But hey, mention that to the depraved leftist open-borders progs and RAAAAACIST!!

At USA Today, "Growing Pains: Multicultural explosion rattles residents."

RELATED: The late political scientist Samuel Huntington, more relevant than ever, Who Are We?: The Challenges to America's National Identity.

Taylor Swift Held 'Secret' Listening Sessions to Promote '1989'

She's taking full advantage of social media to stay ahead of the changing market environment. Seems like it's working out pretty well.

At LAT, "Taylor Swift connects with fans via 'secret sessions,' media blitz":

One of the brilliant aspects of Taylor Swift's rise to pop stardom is the way she's managed to convince millions of fans, the majority of whom are women her age or younger, that she's one of them.

It's central to the message of her new album's first single, "Shake It Off." The song's Mark Romanek-directed video paints Swift as out of her element in various clichéd, pop video settings: as a dysfunctional Lady Gaga-esque performance artist; trapped in a Miley Cyrus-like twerk-off; flailing as a ballerina — only to find her mojo working as part of a group of ordinary people — non-professional actors that Swift again helped select through social media. The video has racked up almost 200 million views in the matter of a few weeks.

"Shake It Off" echoes previous hits including "You Belong With Me" and "Mean": At heart Swift identifies as a nerd — and a proud one at that — a stance that works in her favor as she strives to give voice in many of her songs to the unhip and socially awkward.

Never mind that Swift is a multimillion-selling recording artist who writes, performs and often produces monstrously successful hit singles and albums. She's also one of the few pop culture figures who can score the cover of Elle, People and Rolling Stone magazines while presiding over a multimillion-dollar music empire.


"Taylor's got many, many good things going for her," said Tony Pace, chief marketing officer for Subway restaurants, one of several major corporate alliances Swift is exploiting to promote the new album. "She's astute about social media and she's a very serious and committed artist."

To be sure, Swift has no shortage of haters. Her relatively thin voice is technically no match for powerhouses like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, and anonymous Internet commenters toss out barbs for the perceived trail of A-list broken hearts she's left behind (and perhaps tapped for songwriting inspiration), including musician John Mayer, actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Taylor Lautner, and One Direction heartthrob Harry Styles.

One of the new album's sassiest tracks, "Blank Space," was sparked by what was being written about her in the tabloids.

In the song, she brags that "I've got a long list of ex-lovers / They'll all tell you I'm insane / Looking at that face / You look like my next mistake."

"I pride myself on being self-aware," she told her living-room audience. "But I've also noticed there's this drastic fictionalization of my personal life in the press.

"They'll write that I'm needy, that I push people away then pull them back," she said. "I found all this fascinating. So I thought, 'What if I were this girl — this damaged starlet thing? I'm going to write a song as if I were her.'

"I started writing [it] as a joke," she said, "but it ended up being everyone's favorite."

More, "Taylor Swift loses mind, smashes, slashes in new 'Blank Space' clip."

The APEC Happy Campers

Uh, not.

At Foreign Policy:

Shinzo Abe and Xi Jinping’s painfully awkward meeting and handshake in Beijing. http://t.co/BHPUdX4vPZ pic.twitter.com/8UPOHnTXCv
— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) November 10, 2014

Also at WSJ, "Frosty Handshake Between Japan, China Leaders Hardly Heralds Long-Awaited Détente."

Obama Gets Back to His Indonesian-Muslim Roots with Purple Silk Shirt for APEC

Obama protests the shirts, apparently. But you know secretly he's all down home when he dons these silky fashion items. It brings back all the memories of his Muslim upbringing in Indonesia.

At the Hill:

Obama dons purple silk shirt for APEC family photo http://t.co/qDtfisaQeP pic.twitter.com/wI0tfUmNKX

— The Hill (@thehill) November 10, 2014

Wearing black and purple silk robes, Presidents Xi and Obama take seats for fireworks display for APEC leaders. pic.twitter.com/hVAOgWMsYh

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) November 10, 2014

Added, heh:

@AmPowerBlog @BigFurHat @Blazingcatfur @kshaidle No, you mean his Mao-Commie roots.

— Bill Quick (@DailyPundit) November 10, 2014

Well, I see Muslim roots all over this pic. But hey, when you're buddying up with the Communist dictator of China you're open to all kinds of totalitarian interpretations.

Whether it's an Indo-Muslim silk robe, or a Communist Mao Jacket, it's for certain that hate-troll Walter James Casper's fully down with it!

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) November 10, 2014

Remembrance Day 2014: Tower of London Poppies

At the Independent UK, "Remembrance Day 2014: Tower of London Poppy installation captured by drone camera."

Also, at the Toronto Sun, "Tower of London poppy display takes on life of its own."

And CBS Evening News had a wonderful feature the other night:

Obama Lies About Voter Desires in Midterms

Heh, at Jammie Wearing Fools, "Deranged Obama Lies About Voter Desires in Midterms: “They’d like to see more cooperation”":

Um, no. They want to see the end of your insanity.

Lolz.

Obama Needs to Learn How to Lose Graciously

Well, you think?

Zogby Report Card: Obama needs to learn how to lose graciously http://t.co/fivGmwfnpM pic.twitter.com/MzpAD1DFDV

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) November 10, 2014

Progressive Postmortem: Democrat-Uterus Party May Have Lost White Working-Class Men Once and For All

When the New York Times starts playing Taps for your party, you know your ideological program is truly circling the crapper.

And it's not just the idiotic focus on reproductive rights issues and the faux "war on women." When the foundation of your political agenda is to demonize traditional white people as racist flyover rubes, it's no surprise when those same people run from your candidates like a boatload of West African Ebola patients.

See, "Democrats Say Economic Message Was Lacking":

WASHINGTON — For all the finger-pointing among Democrats over Tuesday’s election calamity, the White House, Congress and party establishment all share responsibility for weaknesses that the defeats laid bare, critics say, and should confront them as the 2016 contest takes shape.

The problems are fundamental, involving questions of where Democrats focus their party-building efforts, what voters they talk to, and most crucial, what they say to those voters. Missing this year, many Democrats say, was a broad economic message to enthuse supporters and convert some independents.

While the Democrats’ loss of their Senate majority owed much to the fact that they were defending so many seats in the Republican-friendly South and West, that dynamic only underscored the lost promise of Barack Obama’s famed 2004 declaration that there is no red and blue America, only a United States of America — a belief he reiterated, “for all the cynics who say otherwise,” on Wednesday.

However naïve his pronouncement — both then and now — as a candidate in 2008 Mr. Obama built up organizations and hopes among Democrats even in conservative places like Alaska, North Dakota and Idaho. In February 2008, more than 14,000 people jammed a Boise State University hall to hear him speak. “They told me there weren’t any Democrats in Idaho,” Mr. Obama exclaimed. “But I didn’t believe them.”

Yet during his presidency, the national party has set aside that build-it-and-they-will-come approach and allowed the 50-state strategy that Howard Dean, the former chairman, oversaw to wane, focusing instead on Democratic strongholds and battlegrounds. And rarely has Mr. Obama visited states that are not Democratic blue or swing-vote purple.

“We’ve suffered from the neglect of the campaign committees out here,” said Larry LaRocco, a former Idaho congressman. He and other state Democrats had sought help from the national party for local Democrats, given hopes kindled by Idaho Republicans’ infighting and flawed candidates. Despite Tuesday’s Republican wave, Idaho Democrats did gain a state legislative seat and came close in other contests. “With some resources in here we could have a field day,” Mr. LaRocco insisted.

But even he does not argue that conservative Idaho should be a party priority, only that to forfeit states and regions ensures Democrats cannot compete.

More broadly, Democrats across the country are increasingly debating how or even whether they should be doing more to win voters largely lost since the 1960s civil rights era — men, and especially working-class white men.

Some Democrats are resigned, if not content, to all but give up since white men are a shrinking share of the electorate, while the expanding ranks of single women and Latino, African-American and young voters strongly favor Democrats.

But while that gives Democrats the edge in picking presidents, it hurts them in midterm elections because so many of their supporters skip voting in nonpresidential years, leaving a whiter, older and less female electorate that favors Republicans.

The midterm drop-off of Democrats’ core supporters “has reached historic levels,” Ruy Teixeira and John Halpin, analysts at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, wrote after the election.

When combined with white men’s overwhelming support for Republicans, the outcome, as on Tuesday, is Democrats’ defeat. In North Carolina, Colorado and Iowa — states where Democrats lost Senate seats after campaigns that emphasized abortion rights, birth control coverage and pay equity for women — support from female voters was disappointing, and swamped by men’s margins for the Republicans.

In North Carolina, where more than a third of voters were white men, Senator Kay Hagan lost their votes by 42 points, 27 percent to 69 percent, exit polls showed. Senator Mary L. Landrieu got support from just 15 percent of white men who voted in Louisiana’s multicandidate contest, a result that helps explain why she is considered likely to lose a Dec. 6 runoff election against the Republican Bill Cassidy.

Yeah, well, I guess all that emerging Democrat majority palaver was just a bunch of crap all along. Brain-dead leftists have been marinating in the hope-and-change myths for so long now that the reality is coming as really quite a shock. Whites are still 75 percent of the midterm voting population. It's going to be quite a few more election cycles until all the so-called "old, racist white people" die off. Meanwhile, the Democrat-uterus losers can't even hold onto their numbers among Latinos, women, and Millennials.

But keep reading, in any case.

It's been a great week. A freakin' great week.

Women in Academia Angered by Sexy Ph.D. Costume

What aren't they angry about?

Academic feminists are the world's biggest harpies and they won't stop harping until they've made the other 99.9 percent of the world's population miserable as well.

At College Insurrection, "Sexy Ph.D. Halloween Costume? No one seems to have a sense of humor anymore."

Democrat Midterm Autopsy

Actually, the DNC hasn't offered an autopsy yet, and I doubt they will until they complete the stages of grief. (And I have no idea how long the denial stage lasts.)

But some folks are trying to get a head start, realizing (grudgingly) that a narrow focus on so-called "women's issues" like "equal pay" isn't doing the trick.

See NYT's Room for Debate (FWIW, heh), "Can the Red Tide Be Turned Back?"

I don't see anything particulary "bold" at the link, nor does what you'll see amount to any "grand vision" other than repackaging most of the progressive complaints about race, immigration, and "inequality" we've heard throughout the Obama years. The only surprise is that Thomas Piketty's not a contributor, lol!

Scott Walker All but Declares That He's Seeking the Presidency

According to Ann Althouse.



Well, he's a proven winner. What can you say?

Er, Democrats Having Hard Time on Messaging After the 'Great Shellacking' of 2014

Heh, a great clip from Fox & Friends Weekend.

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."




Also at Randy's Rountable, "Friday Nite Funnies," and Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES."

Still more at Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Tears of the Clowns," and Theo Spark's, "Cartoon Round Up..."

CARTOON CREDIT: William Warren.

Far-Left Salon Soils Itself with Infinitely Disgusting Essay Attacking America's Military

Salon posted an essay this morning, by self-proclaimed "social critic" David Masciotra, that pretty encapsulates all that is irreversibly repulsive about contemporary progressivism, "You don’t protect my freedom: Our childish insistence on calling soldiers heroes deadens real democracy":

It's been 70 years since we fought a war about freedom. Forced troop worship and compulsory patriotism must end.

The response, and not just among conservatives, has been furious.

Jonn Lilyea, at the mil-blog This Ain't Hell, writes, "David Masciotra: you don’t protect me":

David Masciotra, you know, one of those stank-ass hipster doofuses who thinks he has something worthwhile to say about veterans and actively serving troops, vomits on to the pages of Salon to lecture the American people on how much he is ungrateful that American troops are responsible for the environment in which he lives, you know, an environment that allows him to criticize those defenders of his freedoms – not just troops, but he’s not grateful for the cops, either...

Read more here.

Additional responses on Twitter:

Unbelievable. This is the moment when Salon is done. Done. MT @Salon: Stop worshiping men in uniform

— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) November 9, 2014

How disgusting is Salon? THIS disgusting (Spoiler: Now with more military hate) [photos] http://t.co/V1vDpe59F4

— TwitchyTeam (@TwitchyTeam) November 9, 2014

Salon sneers in disdain at veterans, but look who it called a hero http://t.co/yMEUDNHkAM

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) November 9, 2014

Don't look now vets-sneering Salon, but you are being schooled by Montel Williams (and it's awesome) http://t.co/JimmHgarri

— TwitchyTeam (@TwitchyTeam) November 9, 2014

Never forget "@Salon: Stop worshiping men in uniform: "It's been 70 years since we fought a war about freedom." pic.twitter.com/NGNKYMH2yc

— schlute, M.D. (@coolhandschlute) November 9, 2014

Never forget. Salon's views on military are shared by Democrat loco district voters.

— Brad Cundiff (@bradcundiff) November 9, 2014

Walter James Casper is virtually ideologically identical to Salon's David Masciotra. He should also be shunned forever.

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) November 9, 2014

David Masciotra is basically a spokesperson for the mainstream Democrat Party left. Shun these America-hating reprobates.

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) November 9, 2014

Rule 5 Sunday — Republican Women Edition

Let's lead this roundup with Katie Pavlich, at Town Hall, "Liberal Women Have a Terrible Election Night, Conservative Women Victorious."

And from Ms. EBL, "Rule 5 Republican Women: Election 2014."

Plus, from Linkmaster Smith, at the Other McCain, "GOP #WarOnWomen Results In 100 Female Representatives: We Blame Rule 5." Plus, from last Sunday, "Rule 5 Sunday: Absolutely 100% Lena Dunham Free."

Also at First Street Journal, "Rule 5 Blogging: Joni Ernst."

From John Hawkins, at RWN, "GOP Leaders Shouldn’t Forget That They Won Because Obama Sucks, Not Because They’re Great."

Now, from Drunken Stepfather, "STEPLINKS OF THE DAY."

And from Proof Positive, "4-4 SF 49'ers vs. 4-4 NO Saints," and "*Best of the Web*."

From Doug Hagin, "DALEYGATOR DALEYBABE."

At Maggie's Farm, "Saturday morning links."

And from Blackmailers Don't Shoot, "Post-Election Day Rule 5."

At 90 Miles From Tyranny, "Morning Mistress."

Also from Director Blue, "'If I were Ted Cruz...'"

More at Classy Bro, "Hot Fit Girls to Save The Day (15 Pics)."

And Egotastic!, "Candice Swanepoel Lingerie Sextastic for the Scandalous Collection."

Goodstuff's, "GOODSTUFFs BLOGGING MAGAZINE (163rd Issue): Lets check out some sexy Chinese car models."

Still more from William Teach, "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup," and "If All You See……are super awesome trees being cut down for carbon heavy power and heating for Other People, and you don’t like it, you might just be a Warmist."

At Soylent Siberia, "CockTail Hour Bath Night Baubles."

In a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World has the "Friday Pinup."

The Hostages, "Big Boob Friday Saturday."

Odie's, "Fastest Car ~OR~ Rule 5 Woodsterman Style."

At Knuckledraggin', "Your Good Morning Girl!"

And at Randy's Roundtable, "Thursday Nite Tart: Jennifer England."

Obama Takes Blame for Midterm Rout — Wait, What? Obama! Take Blame? Now That's Change!

Even the biggest narcissist sometimes admits they've screwed up, in this case The One.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Obama Takes Blame for Party’s Midterm Rout: President Says Administration Has Sometimes Struggled to Sell Its Ideas."

Democrat Party America

Heh.

RT @_FreeMarketeer: Lol. RT @Kerryepp: Another map.. This one shows the Democrat Party's America. #tcot pic.twitter.com/PqODDUFe9B

— Melissa Clouthier (@MelissaTweets) November 8, 2014

Cindy Crawford Takes $120 Thousand Mercedes for Test Drive in Santa Monica

Must be nice.

At London's Daily Mail, "Cindy Crawford is effortlessly stylish while car shopping as she takes new $120K Mercedes for a test drive."

Time Magazine Cover Mocks Barack Obama 'Hope' Poster with Mitch McConnell's 'Change'

God this is beautiful.

At NewsMax, "Time Magazine Cover: McConnell's 'Change' Replaces Obama's 'Hope'."

And here's the magazine's cover story, "How Mitch McConnell Won the Day."

Now that's change we can believe in!

Camp Pendleton Marks 10th Anniversary of Fierce Battle for Fallujah

At LAT, "Marines mark 10th anniversary of fight for Fallouja":

PICTURES: On 10th anniversary of #Fallujah, @USMC #veterans remember: http://t.co/UQAcZap0Xp #Iraq via @jhlad pic.twitter.com/SC9VvKMk9e

— Stars and Stripes (@starsandstripes) November 8, 2014

Jim Simpson's son, Marine Lance Cpl. Abraham Simpson, was killed on the third day of the 46-day fight for control of Fallouja, Iraq, in 2004.

"My son was a devout Christian," Simpson said after an emotional ceremony Friday attended by hundreds of Marines, former Marines and family members on the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the second battle of Fallouja.

"He believed God would take care of him and if he died he would be going to a better place," Simpson said. "We know he's in that better place now."

Simpson's wife, Maria, said she is untroubled by the fact that Fallouja is now controlled by Islamic State militants.

The Iraqi army has been unable to hold Fallouja and other areas of Anbar province since the U.S. left in 2011. The U.S. is rushing military trainers to Iraq in hopes of improving the Iraqi security forces.

"Our son wasn't doing this for politics," Maria Simpson said. "We know he was doing the right thing at the right place at the right time."

By late December 2004, when the battle was over, 82 Marines and U.S. soldiers had been killed and more than 560 wounded. Eight Marines were awarded the Navy Cross for bravery, second only to the Medal of Honor.

A heavily armed insurgent force in Fallouja had been routed and the path cleared for an election in January, the first since Saddam Hussein had been toppled.

When recruits arrive for boot camp in San Diego or Parris Island, S.C., they are quickly tutored on Marine battles of the past: Belleau Wood, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Chosin Reservoir, Khe Sanh, and, now, Fallouja.

For Marines, Fallouja was the bloodiest, most prolonged fight since Hue City in Vietnam. Marines fought street to street, attacking buildings where heavily armed insurgents were barricaded.

Although historians will have the final say, odds are strong that, of all the battles fought by Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan, the fight in Fallouja will be the most remembered.

About 6,500 Marines and 1,500 soldiers fought in Fallouja, backed by British and Iraqi forces and 2,500 U.S. sailors in support roles. Insurgent casualties are estimated at 1,200 to 1,500, with an additional 1,500 taken prisoner.

"We did our job and we did it damn well," said Maj. Gen. Lawrence Nicholson, commander of the 1st Marine Division. "We took that city away from the enemy."

How Joni Ernst Went from Republican Unknown to First Woman Elected to Congress from Iowa

Well, her breakout "make 'em squeal" ad sure didn't hurt.

But see Maeve Reston, at LAT, "In Iowa, GOP's Joni Ernst broke a gender barrier on her own terms."

Hundreds Mourn 3 Girls Killed on Halloween

Very sad.

At LAT, "Hundreds of mourners attend services for 3 girls who were killed while trick-or-treating in Santa Ana."

Democrats Play Ostrich After Electoral Meltdown

At Red State.

Raising Eyebrows: Busty Models Firing Weapons on Utah Military Base

Posted on this previously, "'Hot Shots' Calendar Under Fire for Photo Shoot on U.S. Military Base."

And LAT is just now reporting, "Pinup video on military base raises eyebrows in Utah."

Alyssa Arce

At Egotastic!, "Alyssa Arce Is Black and White and Almost Nekkid but Definitely Hot All Over."

No Deep Bench: Democrat Party Hollowed Out — No, Eviscerated! — After 6 Years of Epic Obama Failure

Basically, at the national level after Obama, the Democrats are the party of old white people. Obama's eviscerated the party — left it without a deep bench of talent — and the political greed of Hillary Clinton guarantees to keep it that way.

Oh poor progs! It wasn't supposed to be like this.

The old hag Debbie Wasserman Schultz is even packing her bags, lol!

Amazing piece from the far-left correspondent Dan Balz, at the Washington Post, "Two midterm elections have hollowed out the Democratic Party":

When President Obama was elected in 2008, his victory signaled a generational change and the prospect of renewal for the Democratic Party. Instead, the opposite has occurred. Over the past six years, the party has been hollowed out.

The past two midterm elections have been cruel to Democrats, costing them control of the House and now the Senate, and producing a cumulative wipeout in the states. The 2010 and 2014 elections saw the defeat of younger politicians — some in office, others seeking it — who might have become national leaders.

As the post-Obama era nears, the Democrats’ best-known leaders in Washington are almost entirely from an older generation, from the vice presidency to most of the major leadership offices in the House and Senate. The generation-in-waiting will have to wait longer.

Presidential campaigns and open nomination contests help bring new leaders to national prominence. That appears unlikely in 2016. For all her positive attributes, former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton is a suffocating presence when it comes to intraparty presidential competition. Her command of the Democratic machinery, from fundraising to grass-roots organizing, is so extensive that almost everyone else is understandably intimidated about even testing their talents against her.

Think of it this way: If Clinton were to win the presidency and serve two terms, the next opportunity for a new generation of Democrats to compete nationally would not come until 2024. The Democrats could go 16 years between competitive presidential nomination contests, wiping out opportunities for today’s younger generation to define or redefine the party apart from either the Obama or Clinton eras.

But don’t blame Clinton for these problems. The party’s national bench is so thin that Democrats count themselves lucky to have her available in 2016. If she were to decide not to run, the Democrats would have trouble identifying a field of candidates as extensive as Republicans are likely to put up in the coming presidential race.

The last competitive nomination campaign, in 2008, included — in addition to Obama and Clinton — an experienced field: then-senators Joe Biden, Christopher Dodd and John Edwards, and then-governor Bill Richardson. Clinton has been on the national stage for two decades. Biden, who might run if Clinton does not, was elected to the Senate four decades ago. Dodd and Richardson are out of office. Edwards is in disgrace. With the obvious exceptions, that field has disappeared.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has been moving toward a presidential candidacy. But he suffered a significant setback in Tuesday’s midterms when his state turned to Republican Larry Hogan to replace him. Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) has a populist message for Democrats, but he is not going to be the party’s future. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is a favorite of progressives and capable of stirring passions, but she shows no serious signs of running as long as Clinton is in the race, and perhaps even if Clinton isn’t.

The more serious problem for Democrats is the drubbing they’ve taken in the states, the breeding ground for future national talent and for policy experimentation. Republicans have unified control — the governorship and the legislature — in 23 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Democrats control just seven. Democrats hold 18 governorships, but only a handful are in the most populous states.

In California, Gov. Jerry Brown won again at age 76, his fourth, non-consecutive term in the governor’s office. His victory means that younger Democrats will have to wait until 2018 to compete for one of the nation’s most high-profile political jobs. In New York, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo won a second term, but can’t get out of Clinton’s shadow. The only other state among the top 10 in population held by the Democrats is Pennsylvania, newly won by Tom Wolf.

Meanwhile, Republicans control governorships in Florida, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia and Massachusetts. Democrats were hoping to knock off Republicans Scott Walker in Wisconsin, Rick Scott in Florida and Rick Snyder in Michigan. All survived. In Ohio, John Kasich won by the second-largest margin in state history, thanks in part to the implosion of his Democratic opponent.

Ohio is an interesting case study of the fortunes of the two parties. It has been ground zero in presidential campaigns for years. Obama won it twice — but at the state level, Republicans are firmly in control. GOP candidates have won all the statewide elected offices there in five of the past six elections.

Without prominent statewide elected leaders, Democrats are in danger of seeing their state party structures atrophy. This has happened in Texas over the past two decades, ever since Republicans seized control of the politics of the state...

Ah, yes.

Texas, where some Democrat Party Einstein thought Abortion Barbie would turn the state blue. Wrong, she turned the state even more blood red.

But continue reading. But beware, it ain't pretty for this dirtbag party of epic losers.

IMAGE CREDIT: The People's Cube.

The Republicans' Mandate for Moderation

I don't know if I would put it quite this way. Certainly there's no mandate for huge compromises on the Democrat Party far-left wish list, on executive amnesty, for example. But it's true that Republicans need to keep on the ultra-disciplined track, so as not to upset the outstanding path to 2016 that their midterm victories have opened for them.

See the Economist's report, in any case, "America after the mid-terms: Welcome back to Washington."

BONUS: Don't miss Charles Krauthammer's warning as well, "Seize the day, control the agenda."

'In my first draft, I had the elephant sitting on Obama's head...'

Well, like I said, the Obamunists got crushed, and in this case, literally.

At American Digest, "'Sitting on Obama's Head' Is a Diplomatic Way of Putting It."

Click through for the artist's rendering of Obama's head getting crushed on the "resolute desk" in the Oval Office.

And see Jelani Cobb, "An Unpresidential Election."

The Science of Sound and Language

From Gavin Francis, at the New York Review of Books, "The Mysterious World of the Deaf":

The origins of our inner ear lie hundreds of millions of years back in evolution, when primitive fish began to develop hollows in the skin that were sensitive to waves of pressure from water around them, as well as to water’s movement as they pitched and rolled. With time the nerves became more refined, the hollows became tubes of seawater, and those tubes eventually closed off and buried themselves in the head. Further on in evolution, bones that were originally related to the jaw migrated and miniaturized, becoming the amplifying bones of the ear. The tubes dedicated to sensing rotational movement became our semicircular canals (balance), and it’s theorized that parts involved in sensing the pressure waves became our cochleas (hearing). In the composition of their salts, the fluids of our inner ear still carry the memory of that primordial ocean.

Within the human cochlea is a thin sensitive membrane, around thirty to thirty-five millimeters long, wound into a spiral and bathed in this salty fluid. This membrane resonates with sound, sensing from high to low frequency along its length, while associated nerve cells convey that resonance to the brain. To describe it simplistically, a cochlear implant is a series of very fine electrodes that lie along the length of the membrane. Sound is coded in a receiver behind the ear (often held on by magnets) and transmitted to electrodes, which then stimulate the nerve cells along the membrane in a way broadly analogous to sound. After William House’s first device in the early 1960s, during the next three decades groups in California, Melbourne, Vienna, and Utah worked almost independently on the research problem of how to optimize this ostensibly simple, but devilishly complicated, idea.

A wonderful essay.

Keep reading.

And at Amazon, I Can Hear You Whisper: An Intimate Journey Through the Science of Sound and Language.

How One Ad for Mitch 'Mitchy' McConnell Fueled His Victory

I never doubted McConnell's reelection. I think the leftist media was just overdosing on the prospects of his defeat.

In any case, at the Los Angeles Times.

And watch the video: "Home."