Follow-on Mound-o’-links Just Roars Ahead

by Smitty

Thanks to everyone for the indulgence on the FMJRA pause last Saturday. Now we can catch up on the previous week’s anchor tag festivities. Griffaquiddick really dominates the links, as it did the week. If it wasn’t so pathetically stupid, one could wish for similar stories at higher frequency.

…from the POMPETUS of love

• Right of course had excellent thoughts on the BHO Joker controversy.

Blogger Advice

• Lonely Conservative liked the advice given to trollish commenters. OK, I had approved the post. My line is drawn in a different location than RSM’s.

Snitches Be We

• Grandpa John tosses a rack of bloggers under the bus using a horseshoe throw thought forgotten lost with the Coolidge administration. Reach-around, indeed.

Vice President Biden

• Troglopundit thinks that this is a deterrent against asking timeline questions about BHO. This democracy is an experiment, no? I’m ready to try the Jester, instead of the Joker.
• The Nashville Post liked the birther summary.

IG-Gate

• Pat in Shreveport posts a review of the Walpin case, and also laments that there isn’t any media, or Congressional for that matter, interest in IG-Gate.
• Instapundit notices the connection between Dodd and IG-Gate. And it’s not that both are, sadly, cancer-riddled.
• The Camp of the Saints continues to be the definitive index to the scandal.

Libertarians as GOP bitches

• Knappster takes Stacy to task for his analysis of the meaning of a six-ballot Barr nomination in 2008. I’ll let better looking people than me critique the analysis. My preferred argument is the straight, simple, classical federalist one. You realize that we have 50 different opportunities to be as libertarian, socialist or moderate as we want to, once the Federal vampire is de-fanged. There really isn’t a need to argue any viewpoint to conclusion at the Federal level: just make sure that the stake stays stuck in the vampire’s heart. OK, Stacy has responded.

Miscellaneous Shouts

• Mark Thompson of the Ordinary Gentlemen considered the seatbelt law question, linking humans aren’t numbers post. Good post, but could be expanded into a general consideration of the Progressive agenda, in my opinion.
• Caffeinated Thoughts makes a crucial point:
  

  To those of us who blog there’s a lesson here whether we are conservative, liberal or someplace in between… we can’t just write whatever we want and make up stuff and not expect to reap consequences. It is easy to hide behind anonymity and throw rocks.

  I’ll pile on and add that it’s not too hard to make a stand in favor of a position in a positive way. Give reasonable space to legitimate counter-arguments. Then attack the opposition with dispassionate questions.

• Paul at the Home Security Blog rounds up blogadvice, giving appropriate position to Stacy.
• Jesse Hathaway puts up an excellent post concerning the New Black Panther case dismissal. He linked us, as if daring me to include him in the roundup. I take that dare.
• Adrienne’s Catholic Corner honors Mrs. The Other McCain (who is a wonderful lady, I can say, having met her) after a refreshing photo tour of her garden. If you need a flower break, go to the arboretum, or this post.
• The Reaganite Republican Resistance liked and linked the Cash for Clunkers post.
• Bob Belvedere like Brooks bashing, but is lukewarmer(?) than my lukewarm willingness to consider Mitt Romney. And then there is the DK/Rush connection. May need to get together with this guy for a beverage.

The Main Event: Griffaquiddick

• The fabulous Pamela at Atlas Shrugs picked up on us.
• Doug at Sondra K wonders aloud how lame you have to be…
• The Rhetorican picked it up.
• Al-Wa7a had a lengthy roundup, but little evidence of their origin.
• Another Black Conservative followed the story, providing an Epic Fail summary, and opined:
  

  I find it very odd that his supporters seem unbothered by his comments. If you go to the Immoral Minority and read through the comments, no one seems alarmed or creped out by any of his statements. So myopic are they with their Palin hatred, that they readily accept all these disturbing things. It says a lot about the state of politics on the far left.

• Jimmie invokes the classic adage about discovering you’re in a hole, and halting the digging.

This blog will now seek to squelch the rumor that Griffin once fronted the punk outfit The U-Men, and was merely carrying out the mission in their nihilist classic “Dig it a Hole”:

In any case, it makes an appropriate theme song for Griffaquiddick.

• Caffinated Thoughts links to Megyn Kelly discussing Griffaquiddick on O’Reilly. I know, MK is pure Rule 5 by definition, but we’re focusing on the legal content here.
• The Rude News tried to help Griffin, after a fashion:
  

  Naming the post “Kicking Some Teeth In” in no way endorses violence against losers, wussies, cowards or even decent human beings. It’s just my way of offering Griffin another shelter should he no longer be able to hide behind school children.

  I confess to missing the logic behind this, and request clarification.

• Chad at the KURU Lounge was unimpressed by the specifics of the problem. The two points he seems to miss are the children at risk to a creepy character, and the fact that this is a shot o’er the bow to all of the clowns who helped drive Sarah out of office in the first place. If you take away those two factors, Chad, sure, the thing becomes a local matter that the POTUS might term ‘stupid’.
• Pumas for Palin suggests Sarah stay silent about the divorce rumor. Good analysis, which she appears to be following. And with the dynamic duo of Riehl and McCain demonstrating the difference between a legitimate journalistic inquiry and a Joe-the-Plumber-esque character assassination, what more need be done?
• Liberalsmash included Griffaquiddick in a roundup.
• BelchSpeak emitted a cloud. Which recalls a sausage pizza and a can of ginger ale and a story that, in the name of decency, I shan’t continue.
• Political By Line, the bearer of the big guns, thinks that boy bit off waaay more than he can chew.
• Cassandra weighed in, generating an absurd rumor of her own.
• The Rhetorican noted that Griffaquiddick has provided a new Griffin gate, or sorts.
• Irons in the Fire took notice.
• We had the honor of making Melissa Clouthier’s podcast.
• The Ruby Slippers Blog clicked its heels.
• Moe Lane noted that the renegade hockey mom quote is apparently real.
• The Daley Gator quoted us.
• Thomas Lamb notes Griffin’s affinity for ‘bitchy‘.
• Fullosseous Flap had a roundup, including a Facebook screencap.
• Jimmie mocks the magic of multiple sources.
• Carolyn Tackett: “Excuse me if my heart doesn’t break for poor little Jesse“.
• Rhetorican focused on some legal aspects.
• Rightofcourse linked the divorce quote in a roundup.
• Libertarian Republican complements Stacy.
• Backyard Conservative picked up on the multiple sources angle.
• Eric Florack over at Pajamas Media: liberal bloggers crash and burn.
• Joe at NOVA Town Hall: “Sarah Kicks Liberal Ass Just By Walking The Earth”.
• The Confluence noted the tabliod blogging.
• Blatherings echoed the now-famous quote from the renegade hockey mom.
• Wake Up America was tracking the story.
• The Faithful Progressive linked us.
• Paco linked us faithfully.
• Kim Priestap linked us, too.
• Wizbang digs us.
• The Ruby Slippers Blog likes them some debunkin’.
• Jimmie makes the depressing observation that a divorce would have been a Christmas present in lefty land.
• Tigerhawk links us. And we should link TH more.
• Texas 4 Palin links, and throws in some Monty Python for good justice.

That more or less catches us up. Send your cheers and jeers to Smitty. Pray for peace, keep the powder dry, and hit the tip jar.

Fortnightly Mama Jamma Rinky-dinky-linky hAmma

by Smitty

Last weekend I fell short of being able to attend a wedding, keep up with my online course, do my weekend warrior thing, and squeeze in an FMJRA post. When sanity and the law limit your stimulants to caffeine, that’s what happens.
So we’ll have a double browser-buster post this time, split in two parts, and get this porch cleared of debris. They say when the refrigerator count gets above three, you might be lookin’ trashy.
These links should have been last Saturday’s post, but cherish them nonetheless.

Richmond Tea Party
Stacy continued his illustrious string of Tea Party speeches in Richmond. He’s careful to schedule them when I’m unavoidably detained. I think he fears heckling.

• PAWatercooler posts a shot of RSM hitting a high note. Whether he was referring to himself as “Darlin'” or “Mac the Knife” at that moment is hard to discern from the photo.
• The mighty Instapundit noticed this humble blog’s presence at the Richmond Tea Party.
• United Conservatives linked the Richmod Tea Party report.
• Jimmie noted the Richmond Excursion, but seemed challenged to link the Pink Elephant Pundit. What Jimmie was up to that gave him all of this trouble with pink elephants, one cannot say. By the way, what’s that potent liquid in the canning jar on the back shelf behind the register at the Sundries Shack?

IG-Gate

• Moe Lane on IG-Gate:
  

  [Stacy McCain’s] not particularly impressed with the willingness of Democrats to ignore the implications – and really, neither am I; but I don’t think that either of us are particularly surprised, either. The more that one looks into this, the more hidden minefields there are in the form of entrenched Democratic party interests. You have to expect that their lower-level staffers and officials are not particularly willing to screw their courage to the sticking point on this one…

  I’ll opine that as the Chicago Tumor grows and threatens to metastasize, this probably becomes a handy tool. They keep piling up facts at a low frequency, and, if it becomes expedient, they can probably make it grounds for impeachment. Which doesn’t say much for the 111th Congress’s committment to integrity as such, but we are talking about Congress. We certainly have the bozos for whom We The People voted.

Sadly, there is no YouTube of Knofpler doing “Punish the Monkey” off of “Kill to Get Crimson”, but we do have someone doing a nice job of showing off the guitar part while it plays. I nominate this track as the IG-Gate Theme Song.

Clunkers
Stacy’s title alluded to the classic Dire Straits cut, of course. Let’s just admit it: Knopfler jams.

• A Title of the Week from Carolyn Tackett.
• Daily Pundit on Cash for Clunkers: “laugh riot of primal dumbassery“. Maybe these United States are the most expensive comedy club in human history.

Maxine Walters

• Jimmie was equally dumbfounded at Maxine Walters on The Hill’s beauty roundup.
• The PA Watercooler called for response to the RSM “Pittsburgh Bridge Trolls” taunt
• Another Black Conservative gives a thumbs down for Maxine Walters.

Abstract Quaffin’

• Jimmie picked up on the choice of Hunter S. Thompson for a strictly hypothetical beverage.
• Political By Line, whose Iowa-class battleship masthead really turns my screws, quoted the ‘exit criteria‘ question this blog posed on Gates-aquiddick.
• Carol linked us in a thorough review of the story, in case anyone was totally asleep on the point.

Health Care Prevention Act

• Poli-Tea party quotes Stacy on health care reform: “Every Republican vote for such legislation is a nail in the coffin of the GOP…Kill the bill!” Remember, boys and girls, this legislation is a zombie, and the prescription for zombies is shotgun shells, not fire.
• Right of Course enjoyed the meditation on Romney and Federalism.
• The Associated Press check called it a “real conservative perspective“. The Porch Manqué lives for this sort of feedback.
• Jimmie rogers up for supporting Romney, if he’s got any Federalist thoughts under that immaculate hair.
• Another Black Conservative plays the Nancy Reagan card on Obamacare.

While I’m theme-songing scandals and legislation, here is one for the Longevity Abatement Act (credit to Paco, AFAIK, for that wonderful moniker):

Malignant Narcissim has a cool story behind it. The female soundbite is from Team America: World Police “Usually a case of malignant narcissism brought on during childhood”
I can understand people not enjoying Geddy’s tenor vocals on Rush. But Stacy came up with some cheesy excuse about not liking Rush due to a low blues content. Whatever, man. Readers are encouraged to heap abuse upon Stacy concerning this specific point of silliness.

Economy–Should We Opt For One That Doesn’t Suck?

• Dr. Melissa links a Paul Krugman link while wondering aloud about the recession. I predict that the economic amphetamines wear off after Labor Day, and more dope doesn’t help the addict. But that’s a common sense prediction, not a doctor’s prescription.
• Joel Pavelski links the economic confusion post in the midst of a broader roundup.

Miscellaneous Shouts

• Obi’s Sister had a roundup asking How Bad is Bad? One is at a loss to figure out how this blog could possibly find itself profiled in such a lineup.
• Troglopundit hat tips us most graciously for generatl good humor.
• Jimmie had a qualilty meditation about Dan Rather, in contrast to old-school types like Stacy.
• Right View from the Left Coast liked the Dead Kennedys link in the Gatesaquiddick fiasco.
• A shout to Cassandra, and she knows why.
• Made a roundup at Carolyn Tackett’s Closet for the post I Must Be An Idiot. See, Mr. President, what a forthright approach can get you?
• Rhetorican and I took turns linking each other on a Ben Stein piece.
• The Knappster links us on the Million Hits topic in suitably shameless fashion, offering a couple of other interesting thoughts.

Stay tuned to this blog, as I’ve another emacs buffer of links to go through from the last week. You readers are wonderful, and make these compilations quite an HTML party.

THE GRYPHEN FILES: E-MAIL TO JESSE GRIFFIN

Just sent this e-mail:

To start with Griffin, don’t lecture me about libel. Screw you, you miserable little pissant. I didn’t work my way up — starting with a $4.50-an-hour staff writer job at a 6,000-circulation weekly in 1986 — so some random loser could lecture me about libel law.
I spent more than two decades with a copy of the AP Stylebook And Libel Manual within arm’s reach, and I know the difference between facts and bulls***, a distinction you seem to have trouble making. And you want to lecture Dan Riehl about “integrity”? When he told me that, I was half tempted to risk Dan’s wrath by just going off on my own, but there are more important things to consider and I wouldn’t want to make Dan angry, so I waited.
You made a serious mistake when you published that Palin divorce rumor, Griffin, and your idiot friend Zaki made another serious mistake by pretending to have confirmed it with “multiple sources.” What you did, to borrow a term from military science, was to surrender the initiative to your enemy.
Even if Todd and Sarah had been ready to call it quits Saturday morning (and since my sources apparently aren’t as good as yours, I have no way of knowing), you handed them a perfect weapon of revenge, which they can now use at their discretion. All they have to do is not file for divorce, and they make you a liar. And if they decide to sue your a**, I’m thinking you don’t want a jury trial, so the folks in the jury box can see them every day, sitting in the front row holding hands all lovey-dovey.
Idiot. The other day I was telling my wife I’d have loved to have seen you try to file that “story” at The Washington Times some night when Geoff Etnyre was the M.E. in charge. You and Zaki would have been fired on the spot.
Working at a real news organization, as opposed to the idiot crap you and Zaki do, requires responsibility to others — colleagues, bosses, advertisers, owners and, above all, the readers. As much as I love playing the Internet joker since quitting the Times in January 2008, I try to make it clear to readers the difference between when I’m being serious and when I’m just clowning around. After all, I’ve got a serious career as a freelance journalist, with a wife and six kids to worry about, and even if most blog readers “get it” when I’m just joking, misunderstandings can sometimes cause trouble.
Let’s talk a little bit about “sources,” Griffin. Until I came to Washington in 1997, I’d never worked for a newspaper that allowed what we call “blind sourcing,” the anonymous “senior administration official” and so forth. Well, Washington is a different game (and I’ve got the knives in my back to prove it), so I had to learn how to deal with this “sources said” stuff.
One of the basic rules, insisted on by our Old School editor-in-chief Wes Pruden, was that you couldn’t hang a story entirely on blind sources. You had to have something else — some kind of document, or an official who was willing to go on the record and “put his name on it” — or else it looked like you were just peddling gossip.
It didn’t matter if the reporter knew that the story was right. Without something concrete to anchor the story, the reader might get the impression you were, to quote a highly-placed Republican source, “making stuff up.” You owed it to your readers, and to the reputation of the paper, to get something or someone into that story that would let them know for sure they were getting the real deal. Otherwise, you couldn’t publish it. And woe unto the poor schmuck on the national desk (alas, it was sometimes me) who signed off on a story where the reporter failed to “back up his lede.”
It was for many years my honor to edit the work of such fine reporters as Jerry Seper, Audrey Hudson, Stephen Dinan and Ralph Z. Hallow. Ask any of those guys how much arguing was sometimes required to get a story just right, so that when we printed 110,000 copies, nobody at the White House, Congress or the FBI could dispute our credibility. Ask those guys, and maybe they’ll tell you Stacy McCain is a clueless dilbert who doesn’t know good journalism from a hole in the ground, but that’s their right. It was their bylines on those stories, and if I screwed up the story by an editing error (the reporter’s worst nightmare) then my stupidity could damage their credibility.
Speaking of credibility, Griffin, you don’t have any. Given how wrong you were about the Palin divorce, you’ve blown whatever chance you ever had of being someone that people should take seriously. And given all the things you’ve written about Palin over the past several months, I’d guess the “malice” part of a libel action against you would be a lead-pipe cinch. But I’m not a lawyer, so that’s just a guess.
Mala fides, as the lawyers say, is a dangerous thing. There have been times when I’ve been assigned to do a story — and I wore two hats, doing both reporting and editing at The Times — involving persons or organizations I considered evil. And when you get a story like that, the trick is to do it Joe Friday style: “Just the facts, ma’am.” Like one of my first editors told me, “As long as you’ve got your facts right” — i.e., as long as the story is accurate — “they can’t touch you.” So if you’re doing a story about somebody you can’t stand, you tend to err on the side of caution. That’s another Old School editor’s maxim: “When in doubt, leave it out.”
But you don’t know that stuff, Griffin, because you’re a phony — and I state that as an objective fact. Sue me. You are trying to seem like you’re reporting news without actually doing the work. That’s as dangerous as mala fides, and when you combine the two . . .
Your bulls*** about “my best source” had some serious unintended consequences, Griffin. Among other things, you ruined my weekend. Frankly, I didn’t give a damn about what was going on in Wasilla. I was planning to spend the weekend chilling out so I could spend this week up on Capitol Hill talking to my sources on the IG investigations. Byron York beat me last week, which was my own fault, and now I’ve got to play catch-up.
Instead, I ended up spending all Saturday knocking down the bogus story from you and Zaki — the Woodward and Bernstein of Anchorage — which left me entirely frazzled. And then I got a call Sunday morning from Dan Riehl, and my weekend descended into the seventh circle of Hell.
Your “best source”? Let me make something clear, Griffin: If I ever quote an unnamed source, it’s with the understanding that, should any legal action result, my source will be willing to go on the record and testify on my behalf. There is a basic newspaper rule: If you publish something, and get a complaint from somebody who claims libel and starts talking about lawyers and lawsuits, the conversation is over. Have their lawyer talk to your lawyer, and if the lawyer says retract, retract.
A good reporter never burns his sources, but a good source never burns a reporter. If one of my sources doesn’t call me first with the big scoop, I feel insulted. But that’s probably just the notoriously touchy pride of a Southerner. (“Sir, you have impugned my honor!”) However, if one of my sources feeds me bogus stuff so that I end up putting my name on a story that’s wrong, you’d better believe I’m going to make him regret it. (“Pistols at dawn, you lying scalawag!”)
So when Sarah Palin gave me that quote denying the divorce rumor, she might not have known what she was getting herself into. As I wrote: “That worldwide exclusive quote from Sarah Palin? You can take that to the bank, baby. . . . After I’d filed that, however, I sent an e-mail containing the admonishment that now, no matter what happens, the Palins can never get divorced, as this would undermine my credibility.” I’m told she thought that was funny. Except, I wasn’t joking.
Right now, I’m about 60-40 between Palin ’12 and Romney ’12, but I’d prefer Palin, just because I might have a better shot at the “sources said” angle on that campaign. But if there’s any problem between the governor and the “First Dude” (and like I said, my sources aren’t good enough to give me the play-by-play, “if you get my drift”) they’d better not get divorced, or it’s time to kiss the White House good-bye. However scandalous an affair might be (headline: SARAH SHOOTS ‘TWO-TIMING WEASEL’) a divorce would make me look like a chump. Woe unto the source who makes me look like a chump.
By the way, Griffin, there’s one point you and I agree on: Republicans are too uptight about sex. I’ve been happily married for 20 years and, as the father of six kids, I always laugh when liberals suggest that being a conservative means I’m sexually repressed. More like irrepressible. Sometimes I joke around with my single friends, urging them to get married, lest they fall prey to the temptation of fornication. A joke, but serious, too. When God gives a guy as ugly as me a wife as good-looking as mine, it’s the kind of blessing I’d be a fool to reject. (“MRS. McCAIN SHOOTS TWO-TIMING WEASEL”)
One of my journalistic heroes is Benjamin Franklin, who wrote in his autobiography that, as a child, he was often admonished by his father with a Bible verse, Proverbs 22:29: “Seest thou a man diligent in his work? He shall stand before kings, and his place shall not be among ordinary men.” Like they say, claim the promise. Because I’m lazy by nature, God has relentlessly chastised me for that sin. Nothing good ever happens to me unless I sweat for it, like I’ve had to sweat since Saturday.
So far, I’ve stood before congressmen, senators, governors, attorneys general, first ladies and Cabinet secretaries, but never yet a president nor a king. Given that I’ll be 50 in October, I’m starting to get a little impatient. But live or die, I’m sure one day I’ll stand before a king. So I just keep working and praying.
Speaking of prayer, Griffin, on your blog you say you’re an atheist. Maybe you should pray to Nothing and see if that helps.

Good luck,
Robert Stacy McCain
Co-author (with Lynn Vincent) of
DONKEY CONS: Sex, Crime &
Corruption in the Democratic Party

P.S.: I CC this to my co-blogger Smitty, and will also publish it in its entirety on my blog, just so you can’t play cut-and-paste games on your own blog, Griffin.
P.P.S.: Is the name of your blog a play on words? One thing I could never resist is a double-entendre, but I’ll wait.

Wait, and keep watching Dan Riehl’s site. I spoke to Dan about an hour ago, and we agreed that when he goes with what he’s got, I’ll take a look at it and then decide what I need to go with. So Dan’s got the lead on this story now, and he’s the man to watch.

UPDATE: Dan Riehl goes live:

School-aged children who were PC literate apparently could have had access to information posted on his blog . . .
Because of this apparent portal between his MySpace real identiity and his “Gryphen” alter-ego, the allegedly anonymous Gryphen appears to have been out all along. . . .
The blog appears to have routinely displayed content such as describing then Governor and VP candidate Sarah Palin as wearing “f*ck me pumps” or debating the acceptability of such concepts as referring to former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice as a “c*nt” . . .

Read the whole thing. Hey, how’s that “praying to Nothing” workin’ out for you, Griffin? What was it the Moe Lane said? Me, I can put anything on my blog. I’m a private citizen, a mere entrepreneurial journalist, First Amendment and all that. But a public-school kindergarten teaching assistant . . .? Not so much.

Oh, and good luck trying to flush it down the Memory Hole. We’ve got plenty of screen-capture JPGs.

Have a nice day! 😀

Frantic Mechanism Jiggering: Racist Attractor?

by Smitty

Today’s Full Metal Jacket Reach Around goes to out to Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. We’ll probably have more feedback by next week on our postings, but, until then, Willkommen zum Gemeindeorganizerreich. (Welcome to community organizer land.)

This blog took an offbeat interest in the whole Crowley-quiddic affair up at Harvard.

• Bill Quick, the Daily Pundit, got into a comments discussion with Stacy on one post.
• Right View from the Left Coast be volunteerin’volunteers to go to Hahvuhd to help regulate.
• Linked by the pleasantly styled Politics Across the Pond.

The emotionally distraught Stacy McCain, saddened at his non-invitation to speak in Pittsburgh, struggles onward anyway.

• Chad, at the KURU lounge, laments that he doesn’t have invitations either, much less readers. Sad lad.
• Jimmie at the Sundries Shack responds to Stacy’s chopped liver rating
  

  Heck, man. I don’t even get on the same plate as chopped liver.

  to which the Porch Manqué replies: I’d be happy just to get near the table.

Big Money and the Culture of Death, and The Basic Problem with Obamacare got some attention:

• Michelle Malkin included it as the first link on a post. Let that be a lesson in Applied Grovelling to us all.
• Ole Phil at Cyber Storm included it in a rhythm poetry roundup.
• Rightofcourse links us in Health care that doesn’t care about your health. It’s the incentive to get elected and join the elite.
• The Amused Cynic liked the characterization of Barack’s style, also gets a HEH:“I don’t know all the facts…” but opposing my Health Care non-plan is stupid…
• Monique Stewart is in favor of running out the clock.
• The Michigan Blogger links us amidst a depressing portrait of that state.
• The Constant Conservative, our South Dakota connection, concurs wholeheartedly with the NEA analogy.
• Rhetorican linked us in a roundup, using the title “No Sleep Till Waterloo”. An obscure FMJRA rule requires us to throw in a clip from No Sleep ’til Hammersmith. Hey, I just create the rules: I don’t understand them, as with the 111th Congress

• Pundette linked the eugenics post, but offered a fine palate cleanser for it all. Pundette also suggested a promotion for the Porch Manqué, but, truth be told, the ultra-minimalist arrangement is totally a feature. Stacy McCain is a no-kidding pro putting food on the table. So consider the tip jar in its infinite lonliness, ye people.
• Bob at The Camp of the Saints links us, Dr. Helen, and Jimmie Bise, which is great company, indeed.

IG-Quiddick, the little scandal that could, continues to have interest. The fact that it’s stayed out of the media could imply that they don’t want to jeopardize anything, or that there is significant effort spent to keep it buried. A third possibility is that there’s not much substance to it, but that doesn’t explain the rotting stench very well.

• Lead and Gold noted that Stacy McCain has even written a book on corruption within the Democratic Party.
• The Rhetorican remains reliable.
• Chad at KURU broadcasts us.
• His Instapunditry also supports the effort.
• Paco, in a roundup, approves the moniker.
• Pundette links us, noting that Walpin is filing suit to be reinstated.
• Jimmie at the Sundries Shack sees another shoe dropping.
• Sir Bob of Belvedere continues to link to Stacy’s reporting at an impressive frequency. Thank you very much for the support, Bob.

Rubber Duckey Power:
Seen from the standpoint where the US is a tub, power is water, and Washington, DC is the drain, Ron Paul is quite valuable as a rubber ducky for tracking the drainage.

• Troglopundit went scatalogical on Ron.
• The Instapundit confesses that the metaphor had not occurred to him.

Erin Andrews–A Cautionary Rule 5 Tale
Robert Heinlein: In a family argument, if it turns out you are right — apologize at once!

• Donald Douglas was, eventually, correct concerning the newsworthiness of the crime in the Erin Andrews case. This blog linked to his initial post last Sunday, mocking the title, without bothering to see what the fuss was all about.
• Carolyn Tackett had a humorous take on it.
• Daily Gator agrees that is was a sick trick to pull.

As your Rule 5 Sunday composter, I’d like to reaffirm the commitment to posts that are in good taste (PG 13 or less steamy), positive, and not subject to legal proceedings. Cassandra, Little Miss Attila: I am sorry.
The various female readers seem to be getting bored with the whole concept of Rule 5 Sunday. Possibly the Erin Andrews Incident was when it jumped the shark. It’s certainly fun to construct, and we’ll likely keep it going, slaves to the hit counter that we are. If we can now return to our ditzy sophomoric mode, that would be cool.

<elvis_voice>Thank you, thank you very much</elvis_voice>
Those who gave us shouts for crossing the two mega-click threshold.

• Carolyn Tackett’s Closet
• The Camp of the Saints

Don’t Make A … Maniac Out Of Me
Stacy alluded to a famous, but new to me, [NSFW] rant, pursuant to the discussion of when you pull the plug on an electoral loser. Specifically, his cousin:

• Melissa Clouthier mentions Stacy in her podcast. “Conservatives, Libertarians, Health Care & The Sex Lives Of Republicans”
• Below the Beltway responds to Melissa Clouthier’s Barr voter bashing, mentioning the illustrious Stacy McCain, of course.
• Common Sense Political Thought also raised the Barr question. Isn’t it rather moot? Crappy candidates==crappy elections.
• Political Byline isn’t buying the no morals argument.
• Carolyn Tackett does not support Melissa Clouthier’s position on voting Barr.
• The Poli-Tea Party also defended Stacy.
• The Instapundit linked it, too.
• Liberty Pundit isn’t buying the guilt trip, either.

Mark Levin
This blog reviewed Levin’s demolition of a review of his book. I’m slightly vague on how the left can be so intellectually dishonest so consistently without a head ‘splosion.

• Chapomatic hatt-tipped the Mark Levin post.
• E.D. Kain at the League of Ordinary Gentlemen hat tips us for the Levin pointer.

Matthews
What a disgrace to the First Amendment.

• Monique notices that Chris Matthews is an idiot, and deploys interns to bask in the idiocy.
• Dyspesian Generation buys the Chris Matthews diagnosis.

Miscellaneous Shouts:

• The Classic Liberal has an excellent meditation on the consequences of elctions. He linked this blog about how some on the right are as useful as a chocolate teapot.
• Dustbury picked up the Yglesias post concerning metrosexuals, but I’m curious if he found Jaded Heaven from this post.
• NOVA Town Hall links us a seriuos blog while noting the POTUS free fall.
• The Troglopundit is geographically challenged.
• America’s Future has several book review pointers, including back to this blog’s touting of Michelle Malkin’s new tome.
• Political Castaway gives us props for touting Cato’s new ads.
• Joe at NOVA Town Hall dubs Stacy the new majordomo of DC blogs.
• Paco rogers up for the Federalism post.
• Jimmie wonders, too, how many jobs created or saved went to lobbyists.
• The Cranky Conservative agrees with the DC Driving post, at length, and in detail.
• Pat in Shreveport links Stacy’s AmSpec article about whether or not the POTUS remembers that these United States form a center-right nation. Oh, he does, he does. What, after all, is the target of Change?
• The Daley Gator is ecstatic to have made the headlines.
• Moe Lane linked the Postal Unions story.
• Dan Riehl offers a colorful Mattera example of asking for civil service from civil servants.
• Troglopundits don’t know much about orangutans, but they do link us, so that’s kinda cool.
• The Right Guy links the Fourth Branch of Government post while flogging the Des Moines Register. Bummer, DMR.
• Fishersville Mike had a backronymmed roundup of the sort we appreciate.

This concludes another FMJRA extravaganza. Send questions/comments/concerns to Smitty.

Few Million Jolts Registered Already

by Smitty

This week’s Full Metal Jacket Reach Around has The Other McCain putting the heat on the two mega-hit mark. As PowerLine noted, “The Supreme Court, socialized medicine, cap and trade, record deficits, foreign policy fecklessness –it’s easy to lose track of smaller issues with all that is going on. Which is among the motives for doing this weekly roundup: trying to have some kind of record of just WTF happened. To the links.

Support the conservative book-o-sphereshelf

• I’m a Malkin fan, and so to is the Daley Gator. That lady fights the good fight.
• Obi’s Sister: “…page 291…”
• Jimmie Bise rattles the tip jar.

Great Big Little Scandal Department

• Jimmie linked to ToM’s IG-Gate Reporting, as a tangent to the Chicago Way treatment afforded Senator Kyl.
• Lead and Gold keeps it front and center.
• Pat in Shreveport appreciates the old-school reporting going on. Mr. Smith, you see, thinks unprintable thoughts when he goes to Washington, so we’re all better off funding Stacy for that sort of thing.
• Obi’s Sister, through straightforward use of the Force, can manage to use transparency and POTUS in the same post. Tough lady.
• Bob Belvedere continues to offer substantial support to the effort.
  And we need to highlight an excellent bit of Photoshop work in this context, alluding to the movie “-30-“, of which I’d never heard.

Irrespective of the degree to which they might deserve it, heaping abuse upon women brings no pleasure. But sometimes they abandon their non-combatant status by joining the punditocracy. Open mouth, emit junk, expect feedback.

• Donald Douglas noticed the fur flying

Natural is better

• Dr. Melissa amplifies the point.

Big Gubmint and the Healthcare Holding Company
You’ve been in a political coma if you haven’t paid attention to the radical overhaul of health care currently under way on Crapitol Hill.

• The Daley Gator “If you only read one blog post today¡­”

Roesgenfreude

Mark in Pasedena seems to have come close to a twinge
of sadness: CNN hack Susan Roesgen is about to join some of the 9.5% of Americans on the unemployment rolls.

Senatrix Boxer We were assuming a Rule 2 stance on this round of Her Babsaliciousness. What is it with being from California and being totally regrettable? Boxer, Feinstein, Pelosi…

• The Political Byline was unaware that Sharpton was looking for help.

Paradology and the Wise Latina Department

• Jesse Hathaway had some good news WRT Cap’n’Seppuku, but found out his Senator supports Sotomayor’s nomination.
• We receive Instpundit justice, if little else from the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• Obi’s Sister picked up the Pudge question.
• Rightofcourse pulled us in for a roundup.

Dan Collins’ blog hit ‘Wise Latina‘ earned us some hat tips.

Another hat tip to the Knack was offered by the Dead Kennedy’s in the chorus to Pull My Strings [NSFW]:

• Donald Douglas linked the Knack clip.
• Rightofcourse manages to think about Sototmayor and Tawny Kitaen in the same post. I blame our education system.
• Sir Bob of Belvedere included us in a line up.

TOTUS

• Scared Monkeys included us on a roundup.
• The Blogprof had clips and reaction.
• The Daley Gator wonders how the POTUS will ever cope. By reading Hayek, of course.

Not Praising Judith Warner

• The Daley Gator wants to know if it’s NOAFW yet.
• Dyspepsia Generation thinks Stacy has said it all.

Praising Greenwald

• Rhetorican called it Left-Right convergence. The clap.

Has David Brooks been ridiculed sufficiently? Maybe not.

• Fish Fear Me considers David Brooks to fall within the chum category.
• If you missed Carol’s Brooks/Airplane photoshop, let me point you back to it.
• Dyspepsia Generation has a brutal theory. Ow.
• Below the Beltway suggests: Grope-gate.

A Bit Further Back

• Fear and Loathing caught up with the Bell Curve post.
• Binky continues to out-roundup my roundups, and includes the Bell Curve post as well.
• Lead and Gold puts it in a People Who Really Matter context.

The Hunting of the Chevy-gayt[1]
In defense of the pun, the medieval English is far more intelligible than the legislation emitted by the 111th Congress.

• The Daley Gator picked us up in fine style. The details of the cruising to be kept completely off-line.
• The Mean Ol‘ Meany, hamstrung by the economy and a failure to call Miss Utility, could only afford HOMO-marketing.
• Knappster, tragically out of bubble gum, wonders about the frequency of gay posts. I got nothin‘, interest or otherwise, sorry.

Miscellaneous Shouts:

• Mike Laroche gives us a shout and announces he’s blogging at the Humor Institute. The graphic seems a vague allusion to Obamacare, but my interpretation may be that of an “un-wise Porch Manqué“. If you like that, there is also The Conservatives who say fsck, for your Tourette’s–specifc needs.
• Jimmie took my Crittenden cue and showed the front of the Sundries Shack. He also seems to operate under the misapprehension that Congress can be made to participate in the health care plan they foist upon the citizenry. I reply: “Hah!”
• Scott over at the Patriot Room liked the last Rule 5 post, and did a fine roundup of his own.
• Obi’s Sister picked up the Peggy Noonan commentary.
• If you send it then Trog will link it, which netted a couple links for us.
• Outstanding Instapundit linkage on outstanding issues.
• Lead and Gold’s take on Peggy Noonan has an interesting book review exerpt.
• Jeffords included us in a 10 Favorite Blogs roundup. This idea looks quite thuggable.
• A golf clap to The Blogprof for 2001 posts since January.
• Another Black Conservative links us while bemoaning the disconnect between Conservativism and the Republican Party.
• TCotS liked the Green Room post on lefty economics. Belvedere linked us and Jimmie in wondering about Levi Johnston’s long-term health picture.

This FMJRA comes to you from Florence, Oregon. Possibly less known than its Italian counterpart, but a relaxing place, nonetheless. Mail cheers, jeers, and cheesecake for tomorrow’s Rule 5 post to Smitty. And hit the tip jar, which improves my table scraps.

---

[1] I expect a flogging for that.

Fortunately, My Jaw Rebounded Admirably

by Smitty

It is time for the weekly Full Metal Jacket Reach Around. In the spirit of Buffet (Jimmy, not Warren) we try to take time off just to try and recall the whole week. Our country’s collective slouch towards Hopeychangereich is rarely uplifting and never boring. To work:
For starters, Honduras remains a foreign policy train wreck for the US.

• Carolyn Tackett goes there, likening the legitimacy of Zelaya to Chavez, Castro, Noriega and…Franken
• Fausta, who is among the best English-language blogs on the topic, honored us with a link for the Senator DeMint clip.
• No Oil For Pacifists liked the DeMint clip, and offered some excellent Miguel Estrada opinion.
• Paco has some, AFAICT, exclusive video of Zelaya’s attempts at repatriation. At least the earlier ones.

The Economy continues to defy all attempts at anything but gallows humor.

• The Daley Gator picked up on Cloward-Piven, and thankfully missed the imagery that came to some with the use of the phrase “Stimulate the GOP”.
• Paco’s notion of stimulus was more Metallica than I would have gone, but he did link to this blog’s observation of the Democratic Party as a criminal enterprise.
• Fishersville Mike knows the mantra: “It’s all Bush’s fault. It’s all Bush’s fault.“
• Jeffords amplifies the Zimbabwe analysis. Because we have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of ____. The wages of sin is a Zimbabwian economy, but the gift of Barack is good teleprompter. So we got that goin’ for us.
• Cynthia has a well-done photoshop highlighting our POTUS the outdoorsman.

She Whom The Left Can Handle As Well As The Truth:

• The Astute Blogger notes something no one else has about the Palin announcement.
• Rhetorican led off with the DNC reaction.
• Deuce the Skepticrats thinks I’m dreaming and complains about his screwed up blog. Nearly narcissistic enough for POTUS, that one. 😉
• Troglopundit requires self-censorship.
• Paco tried not to speculate, but proved goadable.
• Chance at rightofcourse had astute observations.
• The Blogprof has a roundup of video clips, and covered the Ace-Stacy back-and-forth last week.
• Little Miss Attila took a moment to referee the match.
• As did KURU lounge.
• Nice Deb was early with the clips.
• Radmisto juxtaposed RSM and El Rushbo and gave the nod to RSM. Score.
• The Conservative Political Report had a decent early roundup.
• Thankfully, Jimmie doesn’t consider me a Helpy Helperperson about the GOP’s woes.
• The Cranky Conservative weighed in on the Ace-RSM exchange.
• The Daley Gator “people are going to be looking at candidates who DO NOT fit the same old political mode.” or mold.
• Caffeinated Thoughts had a great roundup.
• Brigette at Moralia quoted my “wait and see” response to Sarah, amidst interesting analysis of her own.
• Fishersville Mike: Nobody Knows. The knowledge that Sarah does know has the Left hearing footsteps, which is at least entertaining.
• The Mean ‘Ol Meany linked the Don’t Feed the Sharks post amidst a mediation upon how “swell” the 24 July Minimum Wage Increase is going to be. For “totally suck” values of “swell”.
• rightofcourse picked up the Most Ludicrous Reaction post.
• I may concede Isabella’s point on the Most Vile Reaction.
• Pat in Shreveport gives the most vile to HuffPo via Pundit & Pundette
• Jenn Q. Public concurred with RSM’s assessment.
• The Classic Liberal is on board with the No Shark Feeding suggestion.
• Jimmie, on the other hand, advocates both barrels.
• Carolyn Tackett has the last word:
  

  I also believe that if it is God’s will, Sarah will continue and become stronger. If it is His will, she will be President.

  About the only thing to add is that God remains in charge, even if His Will plays out otherwise. Thankfully.

The Obama Administration appears to be weathering IG Gate. For now.

• Dad29 says “So if you haven’t fired them, you just re-arrange their Patron, eh?“. How cynical. It’s almost like you can’t trust the administration, or something.
• Pat in Shreveport follows the IG Gate scandal. Deftly kept out of the mainstream media.
• As always, WWU-AM remains your index of all things IG-Gate.

I’ll be happy to be wrong on this one:

• Jimmie accuses me of nasty thoughts about where the non-regard for Senate ratification of treaties

could go.

• Rhetorican gives linky-love too.

Stacy, Interweb Master of Romantic Intrigue, assumes credit for the Suderman-McArdle liason:

• Moe Lane agrees.
• Pundit and Pundette don’t hesitate to concur.

On the topic of intimate fitness:

• Fear and Loathing in Georgetown:
  

  As is often the case when FLG gets a bunch of new visitors, the emails begin to arrive commenting on the odd mix of vaginas, vibrators, and profanity with posts about Aristotle and international affairs. FLG knows people find this weird. He thinks it is their problem.

• The Constitution Club mis-attributes the Tatiana Kozhevnikova post to me. Call me a boring monogamist. I’m content that others are happy, without poring over these details.

Brooks floggin’ is good bloggin’:

• Great title at Paco: “When Paving the Road to Hell, If You’re Out of Good Intentions, You May Substitute Vain Pretensions”. If you’ve only three letters for Brooks’ opinions, recommend “Ass”.
• Obi’s Sister takes a Cookie Monster route.
• The Ordinary Gentlemen included the Brooks post in a roundup. Thanks, E.D.
• Rational Review hat tipped us. Why a purportedly Libertarian Web Journal would quote the gentleman (Brooks) is unclear.
• The Daley Gator revealed that Brooks is the “other white meat“, AND gave him the inaugural Moral Retard Award. High praise indeed, if viewed while engaged in a headstand.

Mark Lux needs a Three Dimensional Loser Award:

• Teach over at the Pirate’s Cove picks up the response from Mike Lux at PuffHo. He, Mike Gibson, and I had taken Lux to task for making statements like
  

  Conservatives have always argued that tradition should be revered and change should be feared. They have always argued that too much democracy is a dangerous thing. They have always opposed expanding the idea of equality — to blacks and women and the poor, to immigrants and migrant workers, now to LGBT individuals. They have always argued these things, and they still do. And progressives from Jefferson and Paine to those of today have always fought for more democracy, more equality of opportunity, more investment in regular people as opposed to giving everything to the elite and letting them run things.

  I find that too laughably trollish for my limited time. I will offer a moment of silence for the brain damage suffered by “all both” of the people who buy and read this man’s “work”.

• On my personal short list, Morgan Freeberg echoed the disdain for Mark Lux’s holiday hijack.

4th of July Roundups:

• The Dailey Gator has an impressive 4th of July roundup.
• As did Human Trend.
• Carol at No Sheeples Here included us.
• Jesse Hathaway rounded us up, too.

Miscellaneous shouts:

• Blogging machine Donald Douglas recalls a fun Will Wilkinson post.
• The Classic Liberal liked the Al Franken post
• Hyscience echoed the “Styrofoam Diadem of a Clown“
• Here’s to you, American Catholic.
• Conn Caroll at The Next Right points out two of the 8 Waxman-Markey GOP losers who are on the NRCC Patriot Program list. *wretch*
• Stephen Gordon had a lengthy Tea Party post, well worthy of attention.
• Thanks to Carol for a mention on her Honest Scrap post. And for just being generally wonderful.
• Paco links the 9/12 March on Washington. Look for this to become an Intensely Big Deal. Amusing Lefty paranoia, too.
• I scored a Best of the Blogs quote in a great Patriot Room roundup. Glad somebody understands my second motive for blogging, after therapy, is ego massage.
• Knappster links the How to get a million hits post.
• Nice Deb linked the Mr. Jefferson post.
• I made Troglopundit’s random quotes post.
• That Binky fellow at Steynian linked the lawyer Satan post. And that is one mad roundup.

Bob at TCotS notes that Stacy may have gone over to the Dark Side

That concludes another FMJRA roundup. Oversights, cheers, jeers, and Rule 5 Sunday inputs go to Smitty.

Friggin’ Mind Just Reset Again

by Smitty

So, after the Friday fireworks of the Palin announcement, it seemed time to get to work on the FMJRA installment. It’s the 4th of July, and a major Tea Party outing. Government spending is so crazy that economists will soon be forced into using logarithms to talk about deficits. Life seemed so much less chaotic back in the old GWOT days. Sarah really wiped out the right-o-sphere traffic. All other topics Palin comparison. (Stacy: put the bludgeon down.)

Speaking of soon-to-be-ex-Governor-Palin was the focus of about three major threads this week, which can’t be organized coherently. They were, generally, children, Vanity Fair, and the abrupt departure from office. So here is a bundle of Palin joy:

• rightofcourse links us, also pointing to a slightly pro-Palin blog that leaks her plan, in its entirety, shaming me for not having grasped its sublime simplicity straigtaway:
  

  1. Sarah steps down as Alaska’s Governor
  2. ???
  3. President Palin 2013!

• Carolyn Tackett had great analysis and linkage to Stacy’s coverage of the Vanity Fair hitpiece that everyone seems to have forgotten.
• The South Texian refers to her as future President of the United States.
• Obi’s Sister gave me a quote of the day link related to Krauthammer’s “unready” analysis, editing my TLA in the process. Now, now, Obi’s Sister: if you put anything naughty into that acronym, that’s your business. I meant “Anatomically Fatigued, Ultimately.” We are, of course, running a (mostly) clean blog here. She also speculated that the anti-Palin brake-screech in the 4th Estate might be an allusion to The Hunt for Red October. But that would imply Commie intent, and we’ve outgrown McCarthyism, so that’s un-possible.
• His Insty-ness linked Palinpalooza and followed up when Joyner joined the fray.
• Pat in Shreveport apparently held down breakfast long enough to read Sullivan, and includes this:
  

  Yesterday, Andrew Sullivan blasted the MSM for failing to get the details on Trig Palin’s birth. He concluded his post with “I believed then and I believe now that the MSM is too concerened with their own reputations and too deferent to power to even ask the questions. Which is another betrayal of their core purpose. And why they are dying. And deserve to.”

  Theory: the Trig Palin fixation is an attempt to come manufacture a cosmic justification for the MSM’s general abdication of responsibility WRT BHO. It’s all good that BHO was unexamined; look at the lack of inquiry on the right. The trick to analyzing a Sullivan is to suspend standard rules of logic and proportion.

• Of Palinpalooza, The Blogprof said “Stacy seriously must have trashed his keyboard over this one.” He also picked up It Takes Small Men…
• The Classic Liberal: “let the bottom-feeders go!”
• Melissa Clouthier wants to blacklist all that old McCain staff.
• Pundette notes that attacking Palin never gets old. Yet supporting her shall likely stay younger.
• Teach at The Pirates Cove links. Sullivan’s rants are “plainly insane, and makes the people who run The Atlantic look like morons”. Paging McArdle…
• Knappster goes for the NIN reference, and sounds as coherent as a Trent Reznor outing in describing his disdain for Sarah Palin. But let’s wait and see if she lets the Left and the disgruntled Right scare her off. If not, when she’s a declared candidate, then her national-level policy positions will be explored at length and in detail.
• Thumb and Whip had a thorough deconstruction of the “It Take Small People” post.
• Teach picks up the phone, as Stacy picks on Andy: “Someone get Milky Loads a waaaaaah!-mbulance as he gives RS McCain a Malkin Award“
• Deuce at the Skepticrates blames Sarah Palin for borking his blog post about BHO in Russia. It’s a fair cop.
• ToM Athens correspondent Jesse Hathaway piles on the snark.
• Kirbside on the “Small Men” post: “I am tired of how many of us on the right tap dance around the issues… R.S.McCain does not!”
• Fishersville Mike noted that Todd Palin is a dude, not a piece of meat.
• The Rhetorican also gives link.
• Little Miss Attila thinks that the size of the post may have other connotations.
• Donald Douglas was involved in some of the fray over the Palin children.
• Bob Belvedere at The Camp of the Saints was had a good roundup.

Sarah also drowns a clown out of the media.
My take has been consistent on Governor took-a-wrong-turn-and-wound-up-in-Argentina. Why is he still in office? My respect for Jenny Sanford is as great as my not-respect for Mark.

• Again, Carloyn Tacket appreciated my analysis in part of a larger round up.
• Daley Gator on Sanford: “If Meghan McCain thinks he should stay, then that is evidence that I should go the opposite way.” Yes, Meghan, begone with you and that Progressive kool-aid.
• Now, Mrs. The Other McCain may be a tough cookie, but do give consideration to Mrs. TCotS. Yikes.

Also momentarily submerged, but possibly bubbling back to the surface is IG-Gate.

• Pat in Shreveport picked up the slack for us.
• The Rhetorican linked.
• Carol at No Sheeples Here had excellent Photoshop #4,721 on the topic.
• Track-a-‘Crat found a chilling graphic.
• Pundette was so gracious as to link us.
• Michelle Malkin, unsurprisingly, is also tracking.
• Paco finds amusement in an HR person being appointed an IG.
• TCotS Bob seems particularly fascinated with IG-Gate. He also linked it here and has added a deep link into the WWU-AM page for your convenience..

The Franken nail in the 111th Congressional Coffin caught some notice:

• Jimmie quotes the “sewage-like stream of liberal nightmares moving towards us“.
• Bob at TCotS chimes in.

The NORC campaign has some traction in the face of the Imaginary Legislation That Will Eat The Economy:

• Andrea at Radio Patriot introduces a cool Not One Red Cent graphic.
• Whereas the Riehl World View is that such victories could turn pyrrhic. I dunno. Given the choice between death by capillary or arterial bleeding, I’ll note that the latter has the virtue of being faster.
• Winkydog (great name!) had some coverage, highlighting the 44 semi-conscious Dems in addition to the 8 RINOs.
• Carol was graphic and unambiguous about the news at No Sheeples Here.
• The Reaganite Republican Reseistance weighed in. Splendid Green Giant graphic.
• In which Jules Crittenden trumps all the climate scientists: “I thought the global warming scare was caused by horseshit.”
• South Texian played the Judas card:
  

  Robert Stacy McCain has found out the likely reason one of those turncoats, John McHugh, voted for the bill: Barack Obama nominated him to be the new Secretary of the Army. Enjoy your thirty pieces of silver, Johnny.

• Carol takes Vodkapundit’s immortal Churchill riff and goes graphical.
• Over at Paco, Seabiscuit registers disdain with a pose.
• Bob at TCotS offers a thorough overview with follow-up.

On the topic of the species whose presence in high office requires substantial diminishing:

• The Cranky Con hopes to cook the burgers well enough for his local laywer clutch.
• Lindsay rogered up that it was a great lawyer rant.
• Steynian gave linkage, though you have to get past the hilarious Barney Frank coverage to find it.
• Bob at TCotS rogered up for this rant as well.

Oh, and did we say lawyers? The Ricci, or, “let’s install clowns in all three branches of the Federal government”, decision:

• In noting the local impact of Ricci, the Blogprof linked us.
• Linked by Conservative Political Report.

Seriously: what more do we need than “DNA-based decision making is false” any longer in our society?

The GOP ad that brought out the curmudgeon in me:

• Sundries Shack was supportive.

It comes down to this: we have a Progressive party running things in the US, with a Democrat wing and a GOP wing. Only, that bird don’t fly. I fact, that bird flips off the electorate every time it short-circuits the Federalism inherent in the Constitution, as it has since Woodrow Wilson. So if these clueless GOP hacks don’t realize that (mostly due to Jonah Goldberg in my case) we’re on to their crap, then doom on them.

Miscellaneous shouts:

• The Track-a-‘Crat appreciated the Rangel tip.
• Carol lights off the fireworks at No Sheeples Here, and offers a roundup to rival this one.
• Moe Lane, who, hopefully,had a good day.
• Troglopundit thought Stacy was on fire with the effort to purge Sully of silly.
• Deuce thinks little of General Powell, apparently. As with Carter, I’d generally like to have a positive opinion. Sometimes I just can’t. It’s not them: it’s me.
• Jesse Hathaway linked my Boehner quibble. Any analysis? Am I off base?
• Bits Blog awards snark of the day to Stacy. Stacy, snarky?
• Lead and Gold enjoyed a quote from It Takes Small People….
• Jimmie could use a bailout.
• ToM is on record for the first Presidential Pardon prediction. Jeffords was so gracious as to link.
• The Keeper Of Odd Knowledge linked the RINO herd post.
• In reply to the Troglopundit: “Nothing says…like…taken…!”
• Little Miss Attila comes down hard on White House furnishings.
• Another Black Conservative: thanks for an excellent graphic.

Future publishing note from Bob at TCotS:

Bernard Goldberg is writing a sequel to his current book; it will be called A SLOBBERING LOVE AFFAIR II: THE OTHER MCCAIN, SMITTY, & THE SHAMELESS BLOGWHORING OF A MAN NAMED BELVEDERE. Pre-order it at AmazonWomen today.

So that’s the wrap. Please email cheers and jeers to Smitty. On the Fourth of July, consider those who’ve gone before, the wisdom of the founding documents, and the foolishness of those attempting to hijack the most exceptional system of government in history.

If Andrew Sullivan is not stupid . . .

. . . he must be trying to deceive people. No alternative explanation works, when he describes me thus:

Robert Stacy McCain, a supporter of the genocide of Palestinians in Israel, in a blog-post that has to be one of the most single-mindedly bigoted diatribes I have read. And I’ve read a few.

So says the Trig-Truther impressario of The Atlantic Monthly, in honoring me with yet another “Malkin Award” nomination, my fourth since February. Earlier today, I paused for a moment to pray and Andrew may therefore be an angel unaware. God bless you, sir, for providing me this opportunity to elaborate on important principles of rhetoric.

Right-click that “genocide” hotlink up there, and choose “open in new window” from the pulldown menu so that you may read Andrew’s Feb. 20 post in a new browser window. (Alt+Tab to toggle between the two.) Andrew quoted this:

Swear to God, if [the Israelis] ever want a Gentile prime minister, my first order would be to deploy the IDF in a north-south line, facing east. My second order would be “forward march” and the order to halt would not be given until it was time for the troops to rinse their bayonets in the Jordan. After a brief rest halt, the order “about face” would be given, and the next halt would be at the Mediterranean coast.

To which Andrew replied, “Words fail.” No, sir. Perhaps your understanding fails, but words do not.

“If” is the largest two-letter word in the English language, proposing a contingency or hypothetical. If Andrew Sullivan were hung like porn star . . .

The more farfetched the hypothetical, the more we should consider what follows “if” to be hyperbole, that is to say, an expression carried to an extreme. Argument by hypothesis always involve the risk that some dullard will fail to grasp the point being expressed and incorrectly suppose that one actually desires the scenario described.

Therefore, it becomes unfortunately necessary to reveal that my campaign to become the first Gentile prime minister of Israel was intended as a jest. Furthermore, my tactical plan for Palestinian “genocide” (actually, Andrew, it would be mere ethnic cleansing, since they’d have the opportunity to flee the advancing IDF bayonets) was a hyperbole, a sort of verbal clue that the reader had reached the punchline.

There is truth in humor, of course, and anyone who wishes to read the entirety of my Feb. 20 post may attempt to discern what truth I meant to express. The title and first paragraph:

Glenn Greenwald: ‘No anti-Semite could
possibly hate me worse than I hate myself’
Well, that’s the subconscious meaning of his latest column in his ongoing effort to win the Nobel Prize in literature with his wicked satire of a stereotypical self-hating Jew. . . .

Greenwald is one of these people who has never seen a fight between a Jew and an Arab for which he did not blame the Jew. My Feb. 20 post begins by discussing a category of critics of the U.S.-Israel alliance that includes some of my paleocon/libertarian friends, remarking that one cannot dismiss all such critics as anti-Semites: “The world is more complex than that.”

Being notorious myself, I hesitate to attach the evil stigma of anti-Semitism, an implicit accusation of mala fides, on those who are attempting to offer serious comment on serious matters of policy. Whether it’s James Pinkerton, Pat Buchanan or Taki Theodoracopulos, only conclusive evidence of irrational and irredeemable Jew-hatred will suffice.

Perhaps I am too tolerant in this regard, just as I am too patient in hoping that David Frum will reconsider his “Unpatriotic Americans” anathema against Robert Novak, et al. Similarly, I may perhaps be too hopeful that there is still within Andrew Sullivan’s soul some shred of conscience that would cause him to retract the accusation that I am an advocate of “genocide.”

This essay will be extended over the next several hours. I had other things I meant to do today, but it seems the angels meant otherwise. So if you’ll do me a favor, refresh this post in a couple hours. Meanwhile, the waitress has arrived with your check. (Click the link, buddy. She’s a hot redhead.)

UPDATE: My buddy tipped the waitress in a respectable manner, but a certain resident of Connecticut — maybe Ed’s got a thing for redheads — doubled that tip. My gratitude to both these gentlemen, and to the several others who know how To Insure Prompt Service. Hope you’re all enjoying this latest spectacle, which now continues . . .

Kathy Shaidle is the Only Canadian Who Matters, a woman of such excellent character that I am tempted to forgive the Northern Menace for foisting Neil Young upon us. Lead me not into temptation.

It was she, the diminuitive Canadian, who seized upon the “Ransom Note Method” as the key to understanding a certain species of ad hominem by which the Left cuts-and-pastes various remarks and assembles them into a dossier of distortion, like a kidnapper gluing together a ransom note.

The primary purpose of such an attack is to depict the target — among others, Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin have both received this treatment — as a person of such despicable sentiments, guilty of such vile hatreds, that no respectable person can view them as anything but a bogeyman, a demon, an agent of evil.

For decades, the “Ransom Note Method” has been employed against the Left’s enemies, living and dead, and has repeatedly achieved not only its primary purpose, but also its secondary purpose: To intimidate and confuse the Right, to cause them to ostracize those conservatives who are most dangerous to the Left, and to discourage other conservatives from engaging in direct confrontation with the ideological foe.

Kathy don’t scare easy. To quote our hero J. Coddington Van Voorhees VII (“Coddy,” to his friends), I like the cut of her jib. And now that a few people have begun to discern the methods and objectives of the Ransom Not Method, the method’s effectiveness has been permanently impaired. It will soon be destroyed entirely and the Left will be deprived of one of its most reliable weapons.

You assholes picked a fight with the wrong Canadian. Kathy was called a “racist” for her full-throated criticism of Canada’s Orwellian political correctness, so that the book she co-authored cannot even be purchased via Amazon. But she has friends, among them Mark Steyn, and with friends like that, she can handle as many enemies as may come against her.

Welcome to the Camp of the Saints. Hit the tip jar, and come back in an hour or two, because I aim to make sure you get your money’s worth, folks:

“My God, Scarlett O’Hara!” said Tony peevishly. “When I start out to cut somebody up, you don’t think I’ll be satisfied with scratching him with the blunt side of my knife, do you? No, by God, I cut him to ribbons.”
— Gone With The Wind

UPDATE 4:05 p.m.: James Joyner is an extraordinarily insightful writer, and when he calls me “perhaps the most skilled attention whore in all the blogosphere,” my instinctive reaction is, “Perhaps?”

Dr. Joyner began blogging in January 2003, when the ‘sphere was as tiny and helpless as little Trig Palin, and his excellent Outside the Beltway blog has grown along with it. The Good Doctor therefore may not appreciate the difficulties confronting a writer who got 6,000 visitors in March 2008 — his first month of full-time blogging — and who did not aim to fail at this new endeavor.

“Attention whore”? Heh. This implies that I would compose a quite risky 1,500-word analysis of anti-Palinism merely to gain attention. (Check the gazongas on that redhead!) Yet it is a fact, one which too many journalists fail to appreciate, that there is no point writing something if no one is reading it.

Dr. Joyner comes from an academic background where entire careers are devoted to that sort of writing. If my prose style is . . . engaging, this is surely no sin in the realm of commercial writing. But I did not come here to argue with my dear friend James, rather to eviscerate Andrew Sullivan. (Just a figure of speech, a metaphor, a bit of engaging imagery to whet the appetite of the reader who is encouraged to suspect that Sully’s intestines will be displayed in the next update, in about an hour.)

UPDATE 4:52 p.m.: Before that interruption, I was discussing principles of rhetoric, namely, if you’re going to attack a man, destroy him.

Don’t shilly-shally around. Don’t snipe or gossip or kibbitz or damn him with faint praise. Be a man about it, and take him head-on, determined that when you finish, there shall be nothing left of his reputation except a smoldering crater and the hushed awe of the spectators.

To do otherwise is to advertise yourself as a soft target. That this principle could be applied to Israeli’s response to rocket attacks from Gaza might make Andrew Sullivan pause, if he were a thoughtful man. Or hung like a porn star.

Ken Layne’s attack on Sarah Palin, involving her son Trig, was astonishingly sadistic. I saw it at Professor William Jacobson’s blog — the Professor quotes it in full, so that you don’t have to click over to Wonkette to see it — and immediately forgot whatever it was I had planned to do before I saw it.

What could motivate Layne’s wanton viciousness? What did Sarah Palin ever do to him to deserve that? Rather, what could anyone ever do to provoke such cruelty? Nothing. Layne’s attack was a raw specimen of undiluted evil.

It reminded me of similar specimens of evil, also involving the governor and her infant son. Motherhood is among the many institution our society once revered, but which are now widely mocked and derided. As I pondered what sort of response Layne might deserve, I thought about that: Why is it Sarah Palin’s maternal qualities that Layne and others like him choose to attack?

A horror and hatred of . . . the “birth canal”?

UPDATE 5:44 p.m.: Hate to repeat myself, but . . . Heh. No point knocking yourself out, eliciting accusations of being a “single-minded bigot,” if nobody’s going to read it.

“Attention whore” or not, as I contemplated Layne’s attack on Palin, the exposed flank was clear. Like others, he seemed offended by motherhood.

Q. What manner of person would do this?
A. A vicious cocksucker.

Now, I have occasionally remarked on the forms of misogyny characteristic of gay-male culture. Others have made similar observations. There is a type of woman that gay men typically venerate — The Diva, e.g., Cher, Bette Midler, Liza, Madonna — and there are types of women that gay men typically despise, perhaps none more than that unglamorous stereotype, the frumpy housewife. If you add the descriptor “Christian” to “housewife,” it’s like chumming the waters near the Great Barrier Reef.

Why is this so? In Principles of Logic thirty years ago, our professor warned against any statement containing “all” or “always,” “none” or “never” (a danger that is best illustrated by Venn diagram). Nevertheless, one might describe the general attitude toward women in gay-male culture, without fear that this description could be fairly characterized as applicable to every gay man. Therefore . . .

Gay men have mother issues — and all that proceeded from there. And having written that and put it on the Internet, now I see that Andrew Sullivan finds fit to accuse me of advocating Palestinian “genoicide.” As Dana Carvey’s Church Lady might say, “How convenient.”

Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful . . .

This essay can be extended and, if you refresh this page in about an hour, I think it will be. Do you really think I’m merely an “attention whore”? Or do you suppose that there is some reason I wanted your attention? Let the wise consider, and please hit the tip jar.

UPDATE 6:42: Referencing my discussion of gay culture’s influence in the fashion industry, a conservative blogger left a link to this:

Ladies, a question. Why did you allow gay men to become the arbiters of feminine beauty? Seriously, I want to know. Letting Penis Hilton judge a beauty pageant is like me asking Rosie O’Doughnuts for advice on how to be a real hunk . . .
Ladies, before I hear any more whining about society’s horrendous standards of beauty, consider who sets them, and consider who lets the deciders decide. . . .

Indeed, the artificial standards of the fashion industry are . . . unmerciful, you might say. Look at the ads in Cosmo. How many hetero guys consider anorexic 6-foot-tall heroin addicts to be ideal? Show of hands. Anyone?

Perhaps no skill is more important to survival than the ability to distinguish between a friend and an enemy. An honest enemy is less to be feared than a false friend. Military aircraft carry a signal device known as IFF (“Identify Friend or Foe”) the purpose of which is to prevent friendly-fire incidents, and to enable pilots to know that the enemy in their sights is indeed an enemy.

Women who turn to Cosmo seeking friendly advice are fools, as I explained years ago. And one of the basic problems in politics is quite similar. Republicans are forever listening to “friendly” advice from people who aren’t really their friends.

Ask Sarah Palin about that. She joined Crazy Cousin John’s campaign last year and found herself surrounded by arrogant know-it-all “advisers” whose advice struck her as wrongheaded, and now those same advisers appear as anonymous “campaign insiders” in vicious hit-pieces aimed at destroying her future viability as a candidate.

If Andrew Sullivan wants to be my enemy, this is his choice. I pity him too much to hate him, and his animosity harms me not at all. I wish he wouldn’t accuse me of genocide, but this ludicrous accusation hurts his credibility, not mine.

There were other things I might have added here, and perhaps I’ll add more later. But I’ve got to read this Vanity Fair article and see if I can deduce the identity of the sources. Then a nap, maybe, before preparing for my trip to Alabama.

Please tip your waitress. (Look at those gazongas!)

UPDATE 7:05 p.m.: If you criticize Somali immigrants for harassing a gay man, is your hatred of homophobia perhaps a form of xenophobia? Or is it just regular racism?

Whatever happened to multiculturalism, for crying out loud?

How dare you try to impose your values on those Somalis?! This is eliminationist rhetoric!

Feeling Mugged Just Right About Now

by Smitty

Either HR2454 or the heavy food from the bar last night has the tummy a bit out of sorts at the moment. Yet the Full Metal Jacket Reach Around must go on. Pardon the slight tardiness: unlike Congress, I’m willing to admit that dropping ~300 pages at 0300 on top of another ~900 pages is a recipe for disaster. Madame Speaker: if James Madison, or any of the other founding fathers were alive to witness your depredations, I daresay they’d be calling you everything but an American citizen, or worse.
On to the FMJRA therapy.

Economic Wrecking Ball:

• Actually, Carolyn Tacket used the phrase ‘economy wrecking bill’ to introduce her Friday night roundup. I guess Congress has to destroy and economy to save it, for certain values of “save” where the letter “l” creeps into the second position.
• Mike at the Conservative Political Report included us in his roundup. He notes that Representative Boehner was to have read the entire bill on the House floor. Oh, really?
• Our Ohio U. correspondent Jesse finds some humor in this: “Cap’n Trade isn’t the name of a crappy seafood restaurant, it’s a House bill that’s going to the Senate. Elections have consequences, folks.”
• Paleo Pat at Political Byline picked us up, as well: “instead of sitting and writing about crap I know zero about, I will quote people that do know about it.” The fact that you admit knowing zero about it, Pat, puts you on the same level as the pack of clowns that voted in favor of it, albeit in the more honest section.
• The BlogProf seems rather exercised on the topic. From his title, “…The Total Cost Is Still Unknown To Many Americans. Or That It Is A Proven Failure In Europe!” See, now, this is America. Yes we can re-invent the wheel, and indeed make it rounder. It’s all about good engineering, no? The jobs? Outsourced to Zambiniland, of course.
• The Pirate’s Cove post includes the famous Los Angeles roadmapwiring diagram (emphasis mine)
  

  The chart highlights the slew of new government programs Democrats will create in order to take and redistribute trillions of dollars from family budgets and workers payrolls in the form of allowances – all overseen by a confusing web of government agencies.

  See? New government Programs? As long as some jobs are created, it’s OK. That more jobs are destroyed in the creation of those zero-economic benefit government jobs is merely a ploy to ferret out the conservative rubes who are not “on board”.

• The Rhetorican linked the ‘No Transparency’ post.
• Pat in Shreveport has a great roundup, and points out that we all owe debt of gratitude to Stacy for pounding the pavement on the story. I sit and crank out this post here at Porch Manqué Central and ponder how hard it would be to divert time from my job to do this kind of watch-dogging. So thank you, Stacy. [Tip Jar moment goes here].
• Drive Time Happy hour summarizes the legislation: “about as transparent as cotton candy“.
• Knappster: “Smoot-Hawley redux”
• Dave at Fish Fear Me: “You’re the Sucker“. It’s a logical consequence of having swallowed a line of nonsense hook, link, sinker, and half the pier.
• Left Coast Rebel has some good thoughts, as well as the Warren Buffet clip lamenting the plight of the poor people. a) Why support the Democrats at all, and b) note that the FTP spirit of the 111th Congress, which shall live in infamy, is not new: [NSFW]

• Beyond the HR2454 economic Pearl Harbor strike just conducted by the Wicked Witch of the West, Donald Douglas also linked us on the general lack of confidence in the stimulus package. I’m no’ so sure they lack understanding of the unworkability of these ideas. I grow uneasy that they may in fact have a higher level of understanding of the situation, which they are not quite sharing.
• Punch line: the bill does not exist in any final form.

I’m renaming it POTUS Inspector General-Gate.:
The PIG-gate spigot rhymes with frigate. Probably too weird, but we’ll see if it catches, as it continues to pump effluent into the news plumbing.

• Blog buddy Dan Riehl links us both at length and briefly.
• Lead and Gold is also intrigued by the Acheson question. Also: Man on Fire. Unlike the liars, who merely have smoldering britches.
• Moe Lane at Red State <a href="http://www.redstate.com/blog/2009/06/26/the-report-that-triggered-the-weiderhold-retirement/
  “>summarized one chunk of the CHT: “Fred Weiderhold quit rather than tell Congress he was under Biden’s thumb.”
• The Daily Danet (ah, Clark Kent sketch, rhymes with ‘planet’) also linked us briefly. Thanks!
• Perennial ToM favorite Carol offered a concise summary with a graphic of Senator Grassley (R-IA).
• In a brazen attempt at a metaphoric coup, Obi’s Sister thinks aloud that PIG-gate is like an Onion. Hmmm. I suppose, with the accounting angle, you could bring in [NSFW] Herbert Kornfeld, from back in the edgier days… You really have to know where to look for that content. They had that character die right around the time the last presidential campaign was revving up. Coincidence?
• Riehl posted concerning the Rick Moran Blog Talk Radio show about PIG-gate. The remarks about the POTUS’s character and managerial style are interesting speculation.
• When Instapundit asks: “Is there some kind of pattern here?” he means: even Ray Charles, both dead and blind, can see it! OK, I made that up. Insty may not have meant that exactly.
• Moe Lane linked us here.
• Also, a link roundup from the Rhetorican.
• Jimmie Bise served up some PIG-gate at the Sundries Shack.

• Robert Belvedere at The Camp of the Saints appears to be maintaining the definitive index of all things PIG-gate at the WWU-AM page at TCOS. Scroll down a bit and look at the middle column below “Unwelcome Distractions”. This is an excellent resource. We thank you, sir.
• There was also linkage by Michelle Malkin, who has been working this story as hard as Stacy.
• We further caught the attention of the suave Mr. Paco.
• Fisherville Mike is also glued to the browser, awaiting updates.

Attack of the two-inch tall governor:
Without delving into a full autobiographical sketch, one thing dad taught me was: “One ‘Oh, s**t’ wipes out 1,000 atta-boys”. Restated, a single failure obliterates a thousand good deeds.

• The Conservative Political Report mentioned us briefly in a roundup.
• The BlogProf’s roundup mentions us positively, John Kerry’s attempt to bring <a href="http://theblogprof.blogspot.com/2009/06/sc-gov-sanford-caught-cheating-on-wife.html
  “>Governor Palin into the conversation, not so much.
• John Hawkins, writing for Pajamas Media offered a roundup from the right-o-sphere, quoting Stacy at length, as one does.
• The Moralia Blog linked my initial, cautious note.
• The Daley Gator appreciated the (mostly) humorous advice proffered by Stacy: Just shoot the SOB. He linked us more on this topic in a rather squirrely way.
• Jeffords turns the baleful eye and notes: “As the late, great Lewis Grizzard once noted, he needed killin’ is a valid defense down South.”
• Fisherville Mike appreciated the roundup effort.

But consider that there are still one or things that can still be with your record, Mr. Sanford:

Even an entire Rose Garden can’t cover the stench of rotten policy:

• Obi’s Sister delivered a thorough drubbing about the presidential response to Iran.
• Donald Douglas demonstrates determined diplomatic decolletage. A stunning display of Rule 5 intensity sure to leave the mullah’s staggered.
• Jules Crittenden: “The Other McCain gushblogs it.”
• Thanks also to Hyscience for the linkage.
• Bits of Brain had a thoughtful Domino Theory essay, and linked to the “Once Upon a Time…” post with the Gipper.
• Little Miss Attila refers to the POTUS as a “One Trick Pony“. Now, would that trick have been campaigning? Why does LMA hate ponies?

Moving on from personal to policy failures:
Just because it got all the rave reviews of a George W. Bush speech doesn’t render BHO’s single payer scamplan harmless.

• The verbose William Teach: Fail. This looming disaster has been called more dangerous than HR2454.

Don’t let the irritated pit-bull demeanor towards David Letterman distract you:
Cynthia Yockey is really a lovely lady.

• Chad at KURU lounge does his part:
  

  One reason that so many conservative political figures are destroyed is that they set standards for themselves and others. Unfortunately it isn’t always possible to live up to the standards you set. Liberals understand this and so they pick and pick until they can find a defect then attack full force. Apologies or pledges to change behavior elicit no mercy and eventually the conservative is forced to remove himself from public life.

• Chris in New Jersy (not the sad little HR2454 sellout, neither of whom is me) pointed to a tangential benefit of supporting the Fire Letterman campaign:
  

  The Letterman boycott movement is still some mighty fine Google bait for me. And it really helps that the Big Kahuna himself, Promulgator of The Rules and Sensei of Blog-Fu, Robert Stacy McCain, inducted me into the “Don’t F*** With Us” Coalition.

Special Rule 5 Note:
The winner of last week’s “Find a Date for Conor” Rule 5 Challenge, namely, Deuce at The Skepticrats has weighed in. Tommorow’s roundup will not include Maria Belen Chapur links. I’ll add Jenny Sanford to the exclusion list. Not that we object to gratuitous overkill in the slightest, mind you. However, our cheerful appreciation of beauty as such is about positive admiration, and not to be confused with temptation to stray.

Miscellaneous Shout Outs (Shouts Out?):

• Dustbury enjoys the X could not be reached for comment pattern, and offers examples. Also, the three word commentary post rocks, although I was too lazy to search the HTML source to figure out where he linked us.
• Donald Douglas <a href="http://americanpowerblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/robert-stacy-mccain-im-going-to-beat.html
  “>noted the plumbing in a Stacy’s biographical essay. The sad news is that this seemingly historical piece was a stealth prophecy about what Cap’n Trade’s going to do to us all.
• We made a small link roundup of Troglopundit’s. However, it’s his career counseling that really smacks of wisdom.
• The Mean ol’ Meany delivered a jolly flogging to the left, and mentioned Stacy’s economic reporting. For the record, I don’t want to believe that New Yorkers are as stupid as the video clip at the bottom of the post implies.
• The Classical Liberal linked the “No Turning Left” post in an excellent meditation on the lunacy of the left. Of course, the leadership in the left are crazy like foxes.
• The Camp of the Saints concurred with the rejection of Affirmative Action.
• Dan Collins
• The Left Coast Rebel notes that obedience to shameless blogwhoring pays. Now, let’s get you wired for Technorati.

Pardon the tardy FMJRA. We’ll post about last night’s DC gathering elsewhere. Please send updates and corrections to Smitty. Please contact your Congresscritter and offer the most polite variation on a primal scream that you can muster. And hit the tip jar.

Fleeting Moments of Justice Require Admiration

by Smitty

This week’s Full Metal Jacket Reach Around will continue the topical layout, which will serve as a nice aid “just to try and recall the whole year” (Buffet, (the one I quote)).
The Iranian Election triggered a broad spectrum of dicussion on the shiny-nets. Karl Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Rove was one of the stranger tangents. I would have titled that post “If Sarah Palin is a Karl Rove production, does that mean Andrew Sullivan is Trig?” That got picked up by the likes of

• Instapundit, in fact twice
• The Trogpiler, which Sully might possibly enjoy. He also offers thoughts on suckology, but, frankly, they blow.
• The Daily Gator was also sucked in.
• The Pirate’s Cove mentioned it, too.
• Fausta had an excellent roundup, including the CBS screencap of infamy.
• Nice Deb saw Fausta’s CBS, and raised her a Sully picture thugged from AoSHQ.
• rightofcourse linked us, alongside Legal Insurrection, which is great company.
• Jules Crittenden added us to an impressive roundup.
• The esteemed Daily Pundit noted this humble component of the Blogosphere, as well. He seems to be a member of the appearance-centric crowd who doesn’t believe it possible that Governor Palin is the genuine conservative article. More’s the pity.
• Up North Mommy linked us.
• Grow up Libs, says Scared Monkeys.
• Western Experience was out west acquiring some, but linked us nonetheless.
• World o’ Crap amended some details on the Potemkin Village remark. “Catherine The Great Was Actually Stalin In A Dress!” is a great title, BTW. Sarcasm bordering on truth.
• Stop the ACLU was also on the case.

The “Speak Loudly and Carry a Small Victim” (Coulter) Award goes out to those who are just becoming aware that they have been conned by the masters of identity politics. Ultimately, the federal government has no business messing about with our individual medical, sexual, and financial choices. Even if you think that your cause is just, you’re laying down precedent for a bazillion other unjust ones. Cut that noise out. Now. Stacy’s date request open letter to Angry Gay Democrats was linked by

• Carolyn Tackett
• The Instapundit noted the felt pain.

Quoting Krugman and the economy in general drew the attention of:

• The normally less blunt Carolyn Tackett
• Pundit and Pundette’s Bad news round-up
• Our man in Oklahoma, Dustbury.
• Rude News response: Hell freezes over, pigs fly and David Letterman has class.
• Paco liked it.

The “Let Letterman be a Cautionary Tale to You, or, Why we Endeavor to Abide in Cynthia Yockey’s Good Graces” section of the FMJRA:

• The Instapundit said: APOLOGY, SCHMOPOLOGY, and later noted the relentlessness.
• Carolyn of the Closet.
• Lead and Gold dubs Cynthia our own Iron Lady. Then not one, but two thoughtful follow-up pieces.
• Pat in Shreveport is enthusiastic on the point.
• Deuce at The Skepticrats agreed with Cynthia’s repeating of Sebastian’s observation at HillBuzz: Republicans give up so damn easy at just about everything.
• Three Sources handed out a Quote of the Day tangentially related to all this. John even joined the real name club. I’m ambivalent on the point: I respect those who blog in the open, and those who cannot for various reasons, but blog anyway.
• Ann Coulter’s Favorite Lesbian earned linkage by Ruby Pratka.
• Liberpolly on LiveJournal liked the Shakespearean allusion.
• Moe Lane also weighed in.
• Orrin Johnson suggests that conservatives stand fast on Letterman. It’s a valid position. But even if I was 9,000 ton destroyer, I would alter course to starboard rather that remain CBDR with Cynthia. Saftey first.
• Heed the Call, says Reboot Congress.
• Little Miss Attila on Cynthia thrashing DL: “She’s going all Jedi on his ass.”

You know the campaign is over, not because the stump went away, but because of the people being laid across it for dispatch by the headsman.

• Paco less medieval in his take, trots out Louis Campagna for comment, not once but twice
• Word even reached Shreveport, where Pat pulled in some great links.
• Our man Jimmie was among the first to play the Watergate card. Subsequently, he worked in the ACORN reference. ACORN to oak, IG-gate ain’t no…frigate.
• The Classic Liberal chime in, with some Rule 5 relief.
• Fausta was among the first I saw mentioning other IG firings.
• Obie’s Sister picked up on the “Nixonian evil” line.
• Monique Stewart answered the call.
• Velociworld has a neat post. Liked the first comment.
• No Sheeples Here wondered if Walpin would become the Deep Throat of the Obama Administration. Walpin’s cover is as blown as Publius’ was a week ago, but the point holds.
• Instapundit linked the Domino Theory article on Pajamas Media.
• To which Carol added some actual dominoes.
• Dan Collins felt he hadn’t linke enough. Two to three links per post should be sufficient, though more is always better.
• The Rhetorican linked both the NTC news and the PJ Media coverage. This is what I am talking about.

The “Least Eagerly Awaited Sex Tape of All Time, with 7/8 of the Ordeal Remaining” portion of the show focuses on ABC’s White House pooper-scoop on health care. This may be a winning strategy. With enough effort, health care initiatives could cross the Sun Myung Moon horizon, and suddenly we just all somehow believe it. “Vee can do zhis der easy vay, or der Chicago Vay. Personally, vee’re more familiar vis der Chicago Vay…”

• Carolyn rounds up reactions.
• Paco was on board, and linked the explanation.
• Troglopundit links us on the subject of health care rationing, something to do with pencils, which has nothing to do with my neck.
• Pundit and Pundette note the two minute drill.
• Our man Jimmie was on the scene, making a rare point on the matter:
  

  Here is the acid test. Do you remember when President Bush was pushing for Social Security reform a few years back? Imagine what might have happened had Fox News announced it was going to devote every one of its news shows to a ¡°conversation¡± about social security reform and that it would be broadcasting from inside the Whote House all day. Imagine the outrage from the MSM and the left if Fox has shut out the Democrats entirely yet promised to be the very paragons of journalistic virtue.

  The whole administration is an acid test. Traditional, or Wolfe remains to be seen.

• The Classic Liberal take: Good-bye freedom. Hello tyranny.
• rightofcourse weighed in, with an opinion that sounded correct, obviously.
• Caffeinated Thoughts noted the “that’s not news, that’s publicity” line.
• The Pink Elephant Pundit links us. “Raisin’ Hale”, indeed. 😉
• The Liberty Papers: My wife’s response: “If Obama is truly serious about listening to doctors, this one says that he needs to leave my patients and me alone.”
• The Instapundit quoted Stacy, so we’ll link back to him to help with the traffic.
• Related Camp of the Saints

Somebody liked the Gary Kamiya deconstruction:

• “Visigothic Rasputin (with Victorian overtones), Unite!”, says Paco
• Troglopundit foreign policy seems to follow the two tears in a bucket approach.

The political paradox that the same pack o’ jackasses that caused the economic mess are somehow equipped to un-b0rk it:

• The Pacological One.

This week’s episode in Dr. Stacy’s Osteoporotic Conservative Clinic was noted by the following bloggers:

• The Daley Gator
• Jimmie has a lengthy discussion on the topic.
• And that’s why they call it Riehlpolitik: “the rule in D.C. is never to attribute to ideology that which can be adequately explained by ambition.” As long as that ambition doesn’t end in shooting yourself, literally or literarily. Dr. Stacy says “Put the gun down, you’ll burn yourself, it’s really for use in lighting off fireworks, punk.” But pretentious slut?
• Half Past Noon waded into the fray, offering an analysis that seems interesting, but also appears to miss a crucial point: the labels are not the concepts. I understand that Hayek/von Mises considered themselves liberals, even though it’s the conservatives quoting them today. You have to understand that people playing propaganda games have hijacked the terminology. By the end of this administration, collectivism shall have so established itself as to consider itself ‘conservative’, and start calling anyone desiring a life beyond the ant colony a ‘nihilist liberal’. I’ll bet a cup of coffee on the point, D.
• Chris, at the League of Ordinary Milquetoasts weighed in on the whole terminology flap. “I¡¯m not saying that this form of conservatism-cum-liberalism is a bad thing.”

Question to Chris and the rest of the navel-gazers: does the point of this RBS commercial elude you?

• The South Texian elaborates nicely.
• The mighty Donald Douglas termed Conor Andrew Sullivan’s myrmidon, which is less than flattering. There was also a threat to publish private email traffic at which Douglas laughed, scoffed, and lauged some more.

The Camp of the Saintsweighed in on the matter.

My side clinic on humor had the following responses:

• Jimmie Bise passed on a funny tweet.
• Little Miss Attila, as you’d expect, had excellent thoughts.

Big Shout Out to Dan Collins at Piece of Work in Progress Department:

• Carol, at No Sheeples Here.
• Nice Deb chimes in.

Special, uncategoraizable mention category:

• Trog lips.
• The Daily Gator on wishful thinking.
• Deuce at Skepticrats: bipartisanship is a four letter word.
• The Michigan right-o-sphere looks like it’s off to an excellent, Rule 5-intensive, start.
• Wheels Within Wheels in a spiral array roundup, noted the Uh, honey, about that speedo post, which I don’t think is an allusion to any film career of RSM’s, but that’s totally none of my business.
• Jay Longtoe liked caveat emptor. Better Jay Longtoe than “Jack Shaftoe”, no?
• The Track-a-‘Crat gave us some Rule 2, which I’ve not been highlighting here for reasons of time, but this is my only TaC link at the moment.
• The Camp of the Saints linked us on the subject of the Big Lie. Further TCotS coverage:En-Sign, Re-Sign (fat chance)

I have some additional links in a folder to add, but that will have to wait, as there is some kind of malware attacking my laptop. Please email corrections to smitty.
Update: Crisis resolved, additional material dispersed throughout the post, so you’ll simply have to re-read it, paying extra attention, as one does, to . Start flooding my inbox with Rule 5 submissions, too. I’ll be on that later.

Update II: The Blog Prof says: do your homework. And I say: “Roger that”.

• He linked us on the Letterman Protests, with handy video clips.
• We got picked up on the Panetta/Cheney flapette, where the blogprof seemed to enjoy my Jane Curtin riff at the end. It’s all about finding humor, even in situations as clearly manufactured to drive traffic as that one.
• He also links us in passing while mentioning the Eating Is Like Rape Or Something post, courtesy of Donald Doulas. The only time I ever thought of food as rape was while eating an MRE about 15 years ago. They tell me MREs have improved, but they twitch while they say that, so I’m taking them at their word.