Gibbs' Hand....

—Ace

Thanks to Derek.

Retracto, the Correction Alpaca Now Has a Theme Song

—Ace

Heh. Pretty silly.

Correction: Yesterday I mentioned Paul Ryan's plan to save entitlements and put the country on a sound financial footing.

I incorrectly stated that the only fix to the entitlements he proposed (or which would be necessary) was a phased-in escalation of the age at which benefits are paid out, from age 65 to age 70.

In fact, his plan includes means-testing, plus vouchers to get people off government health care and into private plans.

Retracto the Correction Alpaca forced me to issue this correction by looking at me with them "crazy-eyes."

Captain America Now Thwarting Evil, Racist Teabaggers

—Ace

Palin Steele landed his/her dream job of writing for Captain America.

While investigating this subversive group, Captain America and his partner The Falcon — a black super hero — have decided to try and infiltrate the secretive organization. In preparation for the infiltration, Marvel Comics depicts the two super heroes out of costume and observing from a rooftop a street filled with what can only be described as a Tea Party protest. The scene shows crowds of people in city streets carrying signs that say, “stop the socialists,” “tea bag libs before they tea bag you,” and “no to new taxes.” Naturally, the people in these crowds are depicted as being filled with nothing but white folks.

The black character asks the out of costume Captain, “What the hell is this?” And follows that with, “looks like some kind of anti-tax protest.” The Falcon character then snidely tells his partner the Captain, “So I guess this whole ‘hate the government’ vibe around here isn’t limited to the Watchdogs.”

The two then discuss their plan to infiltrate the subversive group that Marvel comics seems to be linking to the Tea Party movement. This discussion culminates in The Falcon wondering how a black man would do such a thing. “I don’t exactly see a black man from Harlem fitting in with a bunch of angry white folks,” he tells the incognito Captain America.

The Captain tells him, “no it’s perfect… this all fits right into my plan.” After this we find that the Captain’s plan is to send the black man into a redneck bar to pretend to be a black man working for the IRS and to get everyone all mad… because… well, you know that every white person is a racist that hates black civil servants, right?

So, there you have it, America. Tea Party protesters just “hate the government,” they are racists, they are all white folks, they are angry, and they associate with secretive white supremacist groups that want to over throw the U.S. government.

It's worse than that. Under Bush, Captain America turned anti-government (and sorta anti-American too, if you ask me) and was much-concerned with thwarting evil-doers who... um, were like trying to kill terrorists and stuff.

But now, under Obama, it's safe to uncritically trust the government again, I guess.

Via HotAir.

Robert Gibbs is an Immature, Cartoonish Buffoon

—Slublog

So this is what professionalism looks like at the Obama White House?

Mary Katharine Ham calls Gibbs the "Dane Cook of political humor." Sarah Palin may be a public figure, but she is technically a private citizen. It doesn't matter who is being targeted, this sort of mocking is unbecoming and displays a juvenile mindset on the part of the press secretary that does not reflect well on the president.

Deputy NSA John Brennan: It Is Now Officially Pro-Terrorist to Criticize Barack Hussein Obama

—Ace

I never saw this one coming.

In an oped in USA Today, John Brennan -- Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism -- responds to critics of the Obama administration's counterterrorism policies by saying "Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda."

Really. Really. Really.

Yeah, I know, supposedly this is limited to "politically motivated criticism" and "unfounded fear-mongering," but I have this sneaky little hunch that that that includes all criticism of Dear Incompetent Leader.

Whoops: Slublog already covered this, much better.

The really sad thing here is that I read Slublog's piece.

I'm... uhhhh... a dummy.

See, I read it, and then promptly forgot who had written it and where I'd read it, and then this guy gave me a tip, so I thought... okay, I'll post it. Late, I guess, and without any commentary, but I'll have it up.

A lot of times I'll remember something having been covered but I'll think, "Oh, must have been on Hot Air or Gateway Pundit or something."

Thanks to Murph.

Wes Anderson Directs the Spider-Man Reboot

—Ace

They're rebooting, or at least thinking about rebooting, the franchise, re-telling the origin story and setting it all back in high school again. (After three movies? After seven years?)

Wes Anderson, the clever but increasingly precious director of Rushmore, The Royal Tannenbaums, and The Life Aquatic, was rumored to be on the short list for directors of the reboot. (So this clip claims, at least.)

Here's a damned funny look at what Wes Anderson's Spider-Man would look like.

I loves me some Owen Wilson impressions.

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That scorching GNP? It hit a brick wall in December

—Purple Avenger

Wholesale inventories were down in December after going up the previous months.

Businesses slashed wholesale inventories sharply in December, a much weaker showing than expected and a troubling sign that companies are still too pessimistic about the economy to begin restocking shelves on a sustained basis...

It was a big slowdown in the pace of inventory reductions that contributed nearly two-thirds of the growth in the overall economy in the fourth quarter as measured by the gross domestic product.

The GDP shot up at an annual rate of 5.7 percent in the October-December period, the strongest showing in six years but the concern is that this boost from inventories will be temporary and GDP will slow significantly in coming quarters.

The good news is that your regularly scheduled recession/slowdowns will be back to normal by the end of this quarter, with a chance of depression by the new fall series pilots. Until then, continue your funemployment and dancing with the stars as usual. The sage wisdom and steady hand of Obama and Congress have everything under control.

Continue reading

Something Wicked This Way Emotes: Andrew Sullivan Bashed as Anti-Semite By... Magazine He Formerly Edited, TNR
Bonus: Sullivan Gives Up Vagina-Blogging to Start... Breast-Blogging!

—Ace

If you read, you can safely skip the overly-padded part I, which is a long bit that attempts to establish Sullivan intended to bait Jewish readers by asserting that the Trinity was unexplainable... at least to Them.

Past that, the writer (Leon Weiseltier) gets on to less metaphysical ground.

Consider some squibs that Sullivan recently posted on his blog. “Most American Jews, of course, retain a respect for learning, compassion for the other, and support for minorities (Jews, for example, are the ethnic group most sympathetic to gay rights),” he declared on January 13. “But the Goldfarb-Krauthammer wing–that celebrates and believes in government torture, endorses the pulverization of Gazans with glee, and wants to attack Iran–is something else. Something much darker.” Michael Goldfarb is the former online editor of The Weekly Standard, about whom the less said, the better. Charles Krauthammer is Charles Krauthammer. I was not aware that they comprise a “wing” of American Jewry, or that American Jewry has “wings.” What sets them apart from their more enlightened brethren is the unacceptability of their politics to Sullivan. That is his criterion for dividing the American Jewish community into good Jews and bad Jews–a practice with a sordid history.

As far as I can tell, Krauthammer’s position on torture is owed to a deep and sometimes frantic concern for American security, and his position on the war in Gaza to a deep and sometimes frantic concern for Israeli security, and his position on Iran to a deep and sometime frantic concern for American and Israeli security. Whatever the merits of his views, I do not see that his motives are despicable. Moreover, Krauthammer argues for his views; the premises of his analysis are coldly clear, and may be engaged analytically, and when necessary refuted. Unlike Sullivan, he does not present feelings as ideas. Most important, the grounds of Krauthammer’s opinions are no more to be found in, or reduced to, his Jewishness than the grounds of the contrary opinions–the contentions of dovish Jews who denounce torture, and oppose Israeli abuses in the Gaza war, and insist upon a diplomatic solution to the threat of an Iranian nuclear capability–are to be found in, or reduced to, their Jewishness. All these “wings” are fervent Jews and friends of Israel. There are many “Jewish” answers to these questions. We all want the Torah on our side. And the truth is that the Torah has almost nothing to do with it.

Sullivan is hunting for motives, not reasons; for conspiracies, which is the surest sign of a mind’s bankruptcy. These days the self-congratulatory motto above his blog is “Of No Party or Clique,” but in fact Sullivan belongs to the party of Mearsheimer and the clique of Walt (whom he cites frequently and deferentially), to the herd of fearless dissidents who proclaim in all seriousness, without in any way being haunted by the history of such an idea, that Jews control Washington.

Discussing Sullivan's daily cri de coeurs about "Jewish fundamentalism" in Israel...

Obama may have been right about Netanyahu–the skepticism about the latter’s willingness to surrender land for a peace that will bring Palestine into being is not exactly fanciful–but Obama failed miserably, and set everything back. Sullivan’s characterization of the recent history is dishonest. On the other hand, there is no suggestion that Netanyahu is Trig’s dad.

Heh.

Oh: The other day Sullivan crept out of Palin's womb to study another part of her anatomy. Safe link to Commentary. Rubin quotes Sullivan, first, who watched her Tea Party address, and gleaned from it that... she has big tits.

It was the most electrifying speech I have heard from a leader of the GOP since Reagan.

She can electrify a crowd. She has the kind of charisma that appeals to the sub-rational. and she has crafted a Peronist identity – utterly fraudulent, of course – that is political dynamite in a recession with populism roiling everyone and everything. She is Coughlin with boobs – except with a foreign policy agenda to expand Israel and unite with it in a war against Islam.

Do not under-estimate the appeal of a beautiful, big breasted, divinely chosen warrior-mother as a military leader in a global religious war.

Clearly he is a man obsessed with Palin and her physique and who cannot resist the urge to degrade and reduce her to a sexual object. For those who portend to offer serious criticism of Palin, and there is legitimate criticism to be had, this should serve as a blinking red light: Go Back! Don’t do it! Don’t humilate yourself in the process, nor reveal yourself to be in the grip of some misogynistic thrall. Stick to what she says and how she says it, not the size of her breasts. For the sane and serious commentator, that should be easy enough advice to follow. But then not all bloggers fit that description.

Some time ago a lefty observed, incorrectly, that America didn't know how to handle a powerful woman with sex appeal.

That's incorrect because it's too broad a statement. It's that the American left doesn't know how to handle a powerful woman with sex appeal.

There is no doubt that Sarah Palin benefits from her attractiveness. There is no doubt, I say, because every other attractive person on the planet similarly benefits. An attractive person is perceived to be, studies tell us, smarter, more competent, more authoritative, more charming, funnier, and... taller, too.

Every good-looking person on the planet has this advantage. Scott Brown had it too, of course. So, too, did Barack Hussein Obama, at least before people began suspecting he was a Mimbo.

Did the right freak out like this over the fact that Barack Obama is a good-looking guy? No. We made fun of the left for praising him as a male model, of course. Who wouldn't? How many time can the left write about Obama's pecs (moobs, really) and how much he curls before it becomes risible? (Two times is the answer, buy the way.)

The left continues freaking out over this -- over Brown's attractiveness, but particularly Palin's -- for several reasons. First of all, they are more superficial than most people, so they have a strong natural inclination to support whoever seems best-looking and coolest and etc., and so they find themselves with a bit of psychic discomfort as their (very shallow) political leanings take them in the opposite direction of their (even more shallow) personal inclination, and react violently to that disconnect.

Related to this -- call this Reason 1 Sub A -- is that liberals believe that simply being liberal makes them more intelligent, and more attractive, and cooler, and hipper, and generally just better people, and they get very resentful indeed to have an attractive person on the other side of things, undermining their belief that being liberal makes them, by simple political affirmation, more desirable people.

The second reason is that left enjoys the unfair advantages it has and gets very angry indeed when the right seems to be cutting into their unfair advantage allotment. By "unfair advantage" I mean all that stuff that shouldn't be part of political decisionmaking -- a politician's charisma, affability, articulateness, "the common touch," "coolness," etc.

You saw the same violent reaction -- though much less of it -- with Scott Brown, again. It wasn't fair! that we had this good-looking squeaky-clean family man with gorgeous daughters out pressing flesh at Fenway and they had the stick in the mud prig they had.

And you see it, much more pronounced, with FoxNews, and Limbaugh, and Drudge, and Breitbart, and alternate media generally. The left is used to controlling the media. They enjoy the unfair advantage of having their message endlessly regurgitated by a monolithically liberal media, and being able to bury any story they found too difficult to spin. They freak out on a daily basis over the temerity of we conservatives thinking we ought to have a voice in the national discourse.

Finally, their is brutal condescension. Sullivan's lament, after all, is that a sizable fraction of this nation is bewitched by this woman's juggs. And that's all that's going on here. Because we're too stupid to evaluate ideas and weigh policies on the merits, so all we conservatives do is say, as Steve Martin did, "Wow! Look at the tits!"

He's angry at Sarah Palin's tits because he thinks those tits have been pressed into service for Pure Evil. Conservatives are so ineffably stupid, and we are so incapable of "thinking" with anything except our "lizard brains" (google conservatives and "limbic system" to see how often it is claimed we react out of literally nothing but the 20 million year old primitive semi-brain inherited from crocodiles), that we are simply like Sarah Palin's policies because we see her breasts and only know "Breasts good. She good. Drill baby drill good, then, I think."

Why, if only Dr. Andrew Sullivan, Freelance Gynecologist, could take that rack away from her, and then, our bewitchment ended, we'd suddenly all see her for the fool she is....!

What was the Washington Post's charming statement on the religious right, reported as straight, objective, factual news? Ah yes: That they are "weak, uneducated, and easily led." And sometimes easily led just by a really kickin' rack.

It seems to escape Sullivan's attention that Palin came to prominence because the entire right was agitating for domestic exploration and then this attractive governor from Alaska spoke the magic words, which even our more conservative leaders shied away from: "Drill, baby, drill." Yes, including in the pristine wonders of the desolate wasteland known as ANWR.

Sullivan would posit that things happened in the opposite order. Here we all were celebrating the untainted and quite godforsaken barren tundra known as ANWR, but suddenly a woman who could rock a D cup came on the scene, and then we were sold.

And finally -- this applies not to the whole left, but to a bizarre, twisted homosexual like Sullivan -- Sullivan really, really hates women, and really, really resents their power and really, really resents that they might possess a degree of sexual attractiveness for the majority of the male population that he can't compete with, no matter how much he squat-thrusts.

What can I say? It is true that attractive people are, what's the word?, attractive. They attract.

This doesn't seem to be a reason for a freak-out by liberals when they are benefiting from this rather well-known phenomenon. It surely hasn't escaped liberals' notice that Mary Landrieu is, or rather was, sort of dishy. And I don't think Norah O'Donnell managed to become a fixture on MSNBC purely on the strength of her reportage.

So, you know, Deal with it. Grow the hell up, and stop whining about it all the time.

And seriously, Sullivan? Please stop talking about Girl Parts. It's really ridiculous.

Thanks to DanF.

Brennan's Op-Ed: An AOSHQ Response

—Slublog

John Brennan, Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, recently said the following:

Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda. Terrorists are not 100-feet tall. Nor do they deserve the abject fear they seek to instill. They will, however, be dismantled and destroyed, by our military, our intelligence services and our law enforcement community. And the notion that America's counterterrorism professionals and America's system of justice are unable to handle these murderous miscreants is absurd.

Now, there are some who say that our president has managed to create the atmosphere of political civility he promised during the campaign, and that he is working diligently to change the tone in Washington. Let me be clear: I reject that view. Today I say to you that there is no meaningful difference between a president who directly attacks his critics and a president who unleashes his attack dogs upon the same. We must reject as false the distinction our president is trying to make, and hold him to the promises he once made.

Mr President, if you are now against politically motivated criticism, does this mean that you recant or regret the words you spoke in 2002?

What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.

What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income - to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression.

It is gratifying to see your administration realize that we should not allow reflexive partisanship to threaten national unity in the face of a common enemy, and it is unfortunate that you did not always speak with that goal in mind:

In other words -- What kind of debate are we willing to have?

Last week, the White House showed exactly what kind of debate it wants on future of Iraq - none.

We watched the shameful attempt to paint John Murtha - a Marine Corp recipient of two-purple hearts and a Bronze Star - into a coward of questionable patriotism. We saw the Administration tell people of both parties - people who asked legitimate questions about the intelligence that led us to war and the Administration's plan for Iraq - that they should keep quiet, end the complaining, and stop rewriting history.

This political war - a war of talking points and Sunday news shows and spin - is not one I'm interested in joining. It's a divisive approach that only pushes us further from what the American people actually want - a pragmatic solution to the real war we're facing in Iraq.

On August 28, 2008 you stood before a crowd in Mile High Stadium in Denver and made a number of promises to the American people. Among those promises was this:

But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism.

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party.

That is a promise you reiterated after taking the oath of office. In your first remarks as our newest president, you promised "an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics." The question we ask ourselves today is whether you have forgotten those promises, or if you ever believed them at all. Let me be clear, Mr. President. We agree that national security should not be a partisan issue, and that the most important function of government is to keep its people safe. But make no mistake - a party that spent eight years sowing the wind should not be surprised when the whirlwind of recriminations and partisanship overtakes them. The current political atmosphere is regrettable, but it was also preventable.

With very few exceptions, Republicans have refrained from engaging in the small-minded politics of reflexive partisanship when it comes to national security. We have criticized your policies, but we have not, and will not, engage in the shrill auto-contrarian hatred that the left marinated in during the previous administration. We applaud your willingness to maintain Bush-era policies that keep America safe, but in doing so, will you now recognize that your previous opposition seems now to be little more than the knee-jerk response of a partisan?

Now, I don't mean to suggest that the divisions between us are too vast to bridge. To paraphrase the words of the prophet Isaiah, I believe it's still possible for us to reason together. If we are to have that conversation, this administration must be willing to acknowledge that it has not lived up to the promises of the past and find a new way forward. A way that rejects the disingenuous and bad-faith arguments your advisers are currently making. If you believe the words you once spoke, now is the time to put them into action.

In the end, Mr. President, it comes down to a single question. Is dissent still patriotic?

Top Headline Comments 2-9-10

—Gabriel Malor

[OregonMuse] More on the eeevil Tim Tebow ad from the Washington Post. The author has clearly strayed off the reservation and the thought police will be around shortly for a readjustment.

Overnight Open Thread

—Maetenloch

Tonight is the first night of the rest of your week so let's get the ONT rolling.

FYI today is National PC Cleanup Day so maybe it's time to cleanup your system or at least organize your pron.

The Crying Wife
The Crying Wife is a husband's attempt to record his wife's crying sessions after nearly any movie they watch whether happy or sad. Here you can see her crying after watching Star Wars Ep. VI. Of course when I first saw it I just wanted to go kick things. And here she is after watching AI.

Anyway according to the FAQ his wife, Hollie, is a good sport about the whole thing and thinks the crying videos are funny too. And he says that other than crying over movies she's a happy, well-adjusted person. So I guess that's fine if it's her only quirk. Also if you're into crying women, then check out this DVD of nothing but crying women from - where else - Japan.

Continue reading

Hoo Boy: Red Eye, at 3AM, Tops CNN's Primetime Lineup

—Ace

That's got to sting.

Audi's Very Mixed-Message "Green" Ad

—Ace

Is this pro-green or anti-? Well, it seems pro-green, since it's selling a a "Green" car, and the Green Hero gets to skate past the authoritarian and effeminate Green Police at the end. So... I guess that's supposed to be a good thing, right?

But... so... why is it lampooning green fever?

John Murtha, RIP

—Ace

Just saw it in the comments. Dead at 77.

I am not going to pretend I care much about this guy. Which isn't the same as dancing on his grave. I'm just not going to overcompensate and pretend I'm praying for him or whatnot.

The only reason I'm mentioning this guy is because he occupied a seat I'd like to have.

And that seat is now open.

Murtha's death couldn't come at a worse time for Congressional Democrats.

Or, for that matter, for John Murtha, but I think that's obvious.

To Win the Seat... A Republican will probably have to express a greater interest in earmarks than we'd generally be comfortable with -- Murtha's little fiefdom basically ran on tax money siphoned off from the rest of the country.

This is one of those cases where we might have to bend to local politics on one issue to have a Representative who's with us on most other matters.

But, you know, that will be one guy arguing for earmarks for Allentown, and without Murtha's seniority and heft. (Correction: It's Johnstown, not Allentown.)

William T. Russell, You're Our Only Hope: Will he run again?

Paul Ryan's Freaky-Good Plan for Making America Solvent, Forever

—Ace

The only plan which actually saves our entitlement programs.

To make the economy -- on which all else hinges -- hum, Ryan proposes tax reform. Masochists would be permitted to continue paying income taxes under the current system. Others could use a radically simplified code, filing a form that fits on a postcard. It would have just two rates: 10 percent on incomes up to $100,000 for joint filers and $50,000 for single filers; 25 percent on higher incomes. There would be no deductions, credits or exclusions, other than the health-care tax credit (see below).

The whole thing is good. Entitlements can be saved by acknowledging the obvious -- that people live longer, and have longer productive careers -- than they did in the 30's, when most people would die before or shortly after hitting age 65. The plan keeps entitlements untouched for current retirees, and those retiring over the next ten years, but then slowly escalates the age at which benefits can be taxed over a number of years, until it finally hits 70.

And that right there fixes it all -- politically, there's no fallout, or very little, because current and soon-to-be seniors see absolutely no changes at all, and the rest of us, depending on our age cohort, will get those benefits at 66, or 67, or, for very young people who will probably end up living until 100, age 70.

Since younger people are mostly concerned these benefits won't exist for them at all, so they're basically having money extracted from them only for other people, I think they'd respond well to a system that guaranteed their benefits... just later than age 65. Later than age 65 is better than "never."

My only quibble is with dropping the cap-gains tax to 0%. I know this is something of a conservative Holy Grail, but I disagree with it on policy grounds and political grounds.

Politically, it's awful, especially with the current populist/bash the fat-cats mood of the country. I don't think people like the idea that their busting-my-ass-for-the-man income gets taxed while a wealthy investor's investment income doesn't. You can make a lot of arguments about a 0% tax rate spurring the economy and so on, but I don't think most of the public goes in for such indirect-benefits arguments; I think they focus on the immediate. And in the immediate, their labor is being taxed, and someone's investment income isn't, and they don't like that.

On policy grounds, making such a sharp distinction between cap gains and ordinary income, with huge tax consequences flowing from the act of categorization, will prompt, as it always does, a lot of tax avoidance schemes wherein straight income can be kinda-sorta argued to be some kind of capital gains income. (It's not always clear which is which, or at least it wasn't always clear to me when I took Federal Tax Policy in law school -- but then, maybe I just didn't study that section hard enough.) Which then prompts more and more rules and regulations to properly categorize the two, which is precisely what a system going for streamlined simplicity doesn't need.

I see this more as an initial bargaining position to make the cap gains tax lower, but not actually at 0%.

And then there's all this great stuff:

Universal access to affordable health care would be guaranteed by refundable tax credits ($2,300 for individuals, $5,700 for families) for purchasing portable coverage in any state. As persons younger than 55 became Medicare-eligible, they would receive payments averaging $11,000 a year, indexed to inflation and pegged to income, with low-income people receiving more support.

Ryan's plan would fund medical savings accounts from which low-income people would pay minor out-of-pocket expenses. All Americans, regardless of income, would be allowed to establish MSAs -- tax-preferred accounts for paying such expenses.

Ryan's plan would allow workers younger than 55 the choice of investing more than one-third of their current Social Security taxes in personal retirement accounts similar to the Thrift Savings Plan long available to, and immensely popular with, federal employees. This investment would be inheritable property, guaranteeing that individuals will never lose the ability to dispose of every dollar they put into these accounts.

Thanks to Dave @ Garfield Ridge.

Amanda Marcotte: Hey, That Tebow Ad Advocated Violence Against Women!

—Ace

Actually Amanda Marcotte advocates violence against women. Ike Turner just emailed me to say, "Now you get it."

Here's her idiotic tweet.

Ed Morrissey predicted that.

I didn't see the ad until today, myself. I DVR'd the game and then fast forwarded through all in-between-plays stuff and commercials. Apparently either CBS forbade them to offer an anti-abortion message, and they had to cut that, or they chose to have no message in the ad at all, and just let word of mouth let everyone know what they were talking about. If you didn't hear about the controversy, you'd just think Pam Tebow was saying how happy she is since she almost "lost" her son, but didn't.

I suspect the former: CBS forced them to cut anything with a message at all. But, thanks to the controversy, most people know what the message was.

Awesome Picture Slideshow

—Ace

All models... I think.

Some of these have such perfect backgrounds I suspect p-shopping, but in some shots he reveals that how he did it -- basically just a table with the model cars on the model street in foreground, with the real background in background, making it look like real cars before a real background.

Some really cool photography here.

Is it all real single-shot in-camera trickery, or is he faking it with p-shopping or something like that?

Thanks to EdwardR.

Is Europe About to Melt Down?

—Ace

Although we're always told our problems were due to The Fiend Bush, seems that a lot of European countries are similarly situated. A lot of money is tied up in bad Spanish property.

The poorer European countries have a lot of debt they can't pay, and they can't use the typical means to avoid paying (printing money, borrowing even more money they can't pay) because they're in the Euro system, with their finances significantly controlled by German deficit/inflation super-hawks.

So basically they're just being told by Europe's central banks to lay off a significant fraction of government workers, stop safety net payments, etc. Bite the bullet, in other words.

Most of these countries will have to repudiate the Euro and drop out of that system.

But even if they do -- their situations are becoming more dire.

Flow data shows an abrupt withdrawal of German and Asian capital from Club Med debt markets. The EU's refusal to offer Greece anything beyond stern words and a one-month deadline for harsher austerity – while admirable in one sense – is to misjudge how fast confidence is ebbing. Greece's drama has already metastasised into a wider systemic crisis. The world risks a replay of the Lehman collapse if this runs unchecked, this time involving sovereign dominoes.

Thanks to AHFF Geoff.

Top Headline Comments 2-8-10

—Gabriel Malor

Late start today. Picked up a hella cold in Vegas.

Valentine's Day Is A Week Away.

—LauraW.

Please Share Your Romantic Suggestions Here

It really is a silly idea for a holiday, but no amount of eye-rolling and snark will change it.

Because any day devoted mostly to women getting their asses kissed is permanent. S'truth.
Ah well, why not? Men are more romantic than women, anyway. Less sappy-sentimental, but ultimately more romantic.

There are still six days to get the job done. Maybe you have better than a box of chocolate or flowers up your sleeves.*

Any of you Morons or Moronettes ever do anything totally cool that went over real well on a Valentine's Day? Got some nifty ideas or unusual traditions to share?

Put us some knowledge.

*Yeah, I'm trolling for ideas here, myself. I don't usually observe the day but this is kind of a special one, this year.

Obama's Director Of National Intelligence Deputy National Security Adviser*: A Christmas Night Phone Call Is Like A Wedding, Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace

—DrewM.

Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan doesn't like that Republicans are attacking the administration for giving the Christmas Day bomber full Miranda rights. Yesterday he pushed back by saying he talked to 4 top congressional Republicans the night of the attack and none of them complained about it.

Problem is (and there's always a problem with the story of this gang) that by Brennan's own admission he didn't say anything about Mirandizing Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

"On Christmas night, I called a number of senior members of Congress," Brennan said on NBC, specifically identifying Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, as well as the ranking Republicans on the Senate and House intelligence committees, Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., and Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich.

"I explained to them that he was in FBI custody, that Mr. Abdulmutallab was, in fact, talking, that he was cooperating at that point," Brennan said. "They knew that 'in FBI custody' means that there's a process then you follow as far as Mirandizing and presenting him in front of a magistrate. None of those individuals raised any concerns with me at that point. They didn't say, 'Is he going into military custody?' 'Is he going to be Mirandized?'"

So according to Brennan, a courtesy call on Christmas night is the one and only chance these four had to speak up. It was incumbent upon them to realize that 'FBI custody' meant 'Full legal rights' and that since they didn't instantly make that connection, they just need to shut the hell up now and forever.

Aside from the ridiculousness of that theory, it's just plain wrong. Writing at The Corner, Marc Thiessen demonstrates there was no reason for anyone to believe "FBI custody" automatically meant full Miranda rights because the Obama administration said it wouldn't.

just a few months earlier, the Obama administration announced that its new FBI-led “High-Value Interrogation Group” (HIG) would not necessarily Mirandize suspects it was questioning.

In its story on the announcement, the Washington Post reported:

Interrogators will not necessarily read detainees their rights before questioning, instead making that decision on a case-by-case basis, officials said. . . . "It’s not going to, certainly, be automatic in any regard that they are going to be Mirandized," one official said, referring to the practice of reading defendants their rights. "Nor will it be automatic that they are not Mirandized."

In other words, Republicans were assured by the Obama administration that the decision on reading Miranda rights to captured terrorists would be made a on “case-by-case” basis.

You remember the HIG, don't you? First Director of National Intelligence Blair told a Senate panel that it should have been activated in this case but then later that night he had to release a statement admitting the team was not operational.

I'd love to ask Brennan that even if we took his reasoning as sound (which no one possibly can) what difference would it have made if they complained then? It's not like you can un-Mirandize a suspect. The criticisms of the law enforcement approach came out in the course of oversight hearings and a national debate on this administration's approach to these matters. The idea that 4 congressional leaders not bringing this up on the spot somehow preempts this debate for everyone else is simply idiotic.

I just wanted to get that on the record lest Brennan tell me I had my chance and by passing it up, I forfeited any right to ever critique him again.

CORRECTION:
*I confused Brennan with DNI Blair in the original post. I've changed the headline and the references from Blair to Brennan in the body. I also removed a paragraph about Blair and his Navy service since it's no longer applicable.

Thanks to notropis for spotting the error. My apologies to all for the mistake.

Dem Candidate for IL Lt. Gov Drops Out

—Dave In Texas

Doesn't want to jeopardize (however that's spelled) the Dem ticket.

Announcing his decision at a Chicago bar packed with patrons watching the Super Bowl, a tearful Scott Lee Cohen said the Democrats were not certain they could win with him on the ticket. He said he was stepping down because he did not want to jeopardize the Democratic Party ticket.

It's that middle name thing. Just tweaks you wrong.

via HotAirpundit via comment by newser

Overnight Open Thread

—Maetenloch

Alrighty let's get the post-SB ONT party started.

Best game snark - DrewM on twitter: "I stand by my prediction from October...Obama will be named MVP of this game."

And how about that Census commercial?
I'm an optimist so when I see the government waste $2.5 million on a crappy useless commercial, I just tell myself well at least it didn't go directly to the SIEU.

From the Know-Your-Correctional-Facilities Dept: Inside a Scandi Prison
Well damn I've lived in school dorms that were more prison-like than this. An acquaintance of mine who lived for a couple of years in Scandinavia tells me that the scandis are very naive about crime which is why you're always hearing about capers like this and this and this. So maybe it's time to gather up some morons and go do some crimes in scandi-land.

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Second Half!

—Dave In Texas

Game Thread

—Dave In Texas

Pregame stuff is done, let's get to it.

Here's my pick. I might have beaten Lauraw on picks with this one. She's a closet Manning fan.

Superbowl Sunday Open Thread UPDATED and BUMPED

—Dave In Texas

Football, commercials, food, whatever's on your mind today.

Manning or Brees? Offense or defense?

Yes, you can haz cheerleader.

UPDATE: THE MOST HORRIFYING SUPERBOWL AD EVER! ELEVENTY!11!!

This is what pro-choice groups threw a goddamned hissy fit over?

Courage!

video tip via HotAir and Slublog the dad.

What's the dumbest pregame story so far? Plaxico?

Home improvements - tankless hot water heater project

—Purple Avenger

Its still the WEEKEND! And what do manly morons and adventurous wimmens do on weekends if they're not being couch potatoes or out shopping for shoes? They're hacking their their cribs, that's what they're doing.

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Greenpeace UK call for Pachauri resignation, then retracts/clarifies/says it was "out of context"/whateveh

—Purple Avenger

Then

"The IPCC needs to regain credibility. Is that going to happen with Pachauri? I don't think so. We need someone held in high regard who has extremely good judgment and is seen by the global public as someone on their side."

Now

Greenpeace is not calling for the resignation of the IPCC Chair nor do we believe that there are fundamental issues with the way the IPCC conducts its business.

"Greenpeace is not calling for Pachauri's resignation. We believe the
IPCC is an open and transparent organization, and we trust it to
manage itself."

Q. Was John Sauven / Greenpeace UK calling for Dr Pachauri to resign?

A. John's remarks were made at a reception and were part of a much
longer conversation. What was reported in the Times does not reflect
the totality of the conversation. The IPCC is an open and transparent
organization and Greenpeace trusts it to resolve these issues itself.

I wonder who reshaped Mr Sauven's head between then and now? The original remarks make it pretty obvious he didn't believe Pachauri was the man for the job. No amount of additional "context" could blunt their impact. If anyone from Greenpeace is reading this, THIS illustrates very clearly why I stopped sending you money 25 years ago. Your internal politics are toxic.

Overnight Open Thread - Saturday Edition

—Maetenloch

Hello, hello all M&Ms. Welcome to your weekly Saturday night ONT.

Oh and kudos to holger for bringing a little old english poetry to the ONT last night. He gets 2 MaetPoints for that. Collect enough and you can get the steak knife set!

The hottest women of Super Bowl media
Okay and based on this sampling I'm thinking the best way to watch the game is on a spanish channel with english audio.

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Palin At Tea Party Convention

—DrewM.

Started a bit ago and it's on Fox now.

She's making fun of Sheriff Joe and Hope & Change. That's kind of fun.

Reagan's Birthday

—Dave In Texas

I am remiss in remembering this day.

Here's his first inaugural address, as a commemoration.

"We are too great a nation, to limit ourselves to small dreams."

Goddamn right.

The man could deliver a speech, couldn't he?

thanks for the reminder beedubya. And the vid tip via H2.

More: A compilation of his humor. Laughter is sweet, isn't it?

My personal fav though was this

How Much of the Deficit Did Obama Inherit?

—Dave In Texas

An analysis by the numbers.

What's wrong with this picture?

Largely that it is politically motivated to provide cover for Capn Wonderful through year one.

What the CBPP did was take their least-favorite policies and add the the costs of those policies up until they matched the 2009 deficit. That’s not a proper way to compute a deficit, as it will only be accurate for the calibration year: 2009.

The nugget in the story (read it all please) is that discouraging business growth exacerbates the problem. Business and industry react to conditions just like people do, i.e. self-preservation. They tighten their belts when the waves come crashing, to weather the storm. Anecdotally, my own company started reading the tea leaves in the early summer of 2008, and we adjusted our plan accordingly.

And by that I mean "down". Way down. We're sucking it up to ride it out.

This is why "job incentives" can't work. No fool is going to throw good money into the maw. We cannot take on long term obligations in the present situation, apart from funded initiatives. Cause we're not dumb.

Most people who manage the balance sheet are not fools.

Saturday Afternoon Open Thread

—DrewM.

I hear it's snowing in parts of the country. Hope that's working out for everyone.

Consider this a Pre-Super Bowl thread. Make your predictions and talk smack if you got a dog in this fight.

Below the fold, something to balance the photos posted earlier by my esteemed colleague LauraW.

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Yet Another Military Stud For US Congress

—LauraW.

Don't you just love how this year is going?

Adam Kinzinger for Illinois' 11th District.

UPDATE: Whups, forgot the link to his website. Here it is.

Kinzinger represents the same brand of Baldermann Republican who will appeal to independent and swing voters. Not only is Kinzinger a member of the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command with five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, he saved the life of a Milwaukee woman in 2006 by pinning to the ground her knife-wielding attacker and restraining him until police arrived.

....................

Two years later, he was airlifting injured soldiers from battle zones in Afghanistan.

Kinzinger is Tea Party and RedState endorsed.

Dear Sweet Jesus.

Much thanks again to awesome tipster Krukke1.

UPDATE II: The Moronettes are flushed and breathless. Bonus pic from extremely helpful commenter 'Peaches,' below the fold.

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Meteorologist Loses His Shit

—LauraW.

Only Death's frigid embrace can release you from this torment. And Death has come. Today.

Stolen Valor Update

—LauraW.

Starfleet Commander Harry Lipmerkin has been apprehended.

Michael Patrick McManus was arrested Friday night after a federal judge signed a warrant for his arrest. The FBI says he was arrested without incident.

Also, an Out Of Control Newstalk Alert:

The pictures ignited a flurry of bloggers attempting to figure out who was parading around town as this highly-decorated war hero.

Ouch! Hate it when that happens. That's why I never travel in flurries anymore. Somebody whips out an incendiary photo and before you know it, you're going foooom like a Q-tip soaked in kerosene. Fortunately they make a cream for that now.

Video at the CDR Salamander link.

Overnight Open Thread

—Maetenloch

Friday, Friday, Friday and Saturday morning too.

"Too Late to Apologize": The American Revolution as a Music Video
And hey it's better than most hit songs these days plus the Founders look good on stage. Be sure and check out BF shredding. Too bad the rest of history hasn't been covered the same way.

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"Dr." Pachauri: Hey, Those Who Claim I Profited From IPCC Decisions Should Rub Asbestos on Their Faces (And Die of Cancer)

—Ace

I'm adding in the (And Die of Cancer) but that's obviously what he's saying.

Rajendra Pachauri, the besieged head of the U.N.'s International Panel on Climate Change, told the Financial Times on Wednesday that he is the victim of a "carefully orchestrated" campaign to block climate change legislation.

"I would say [there are] nefarious designs behind people trying to attack me with lies, falsehoods," he told the paper, swatting away allegations that his India-based climate institute, TERI, has benefited from decisions made by the IPCC, which he also chairs.

Climate change skeptics "are people who deny the link between smoking and cancer; they are people who say that asbestos is as good as talcum powder," he said.

"I hope that they apply it (asbestos) to their faces every day."

Pachauri's remarks came as pressure and scrutiny are mounting against the IPCC's hallmark Fourth Assessment Report, which laid out the case for man-made climate change over a thousand sprawling pages.

The report contained misleading data about the melting rate of glaciers in the Himalayas and is riddled with citations to data furnished by activist groups, non-scientific journals and material that was never peer-reviewed.

Pachauri called the furor over errors in the assessment report "a blip that is going to pass," and reiterated his intention to remain in place as the chief of the world's most powerful climate body.

"I'm not a quitter. Some people would want me to be; some people would probably say that I should go, but I am not going to oblige them. I have no desire to leave at all," he said.

You can't spell "unaccountable" without UN.

Wow, this thing is coming apart at the seams.

Thanks to Lord Raiden.

Blindsided: Freaky Deaky Sex-Scandal Bombshell Coming for Dead-Man-Walking Governor Paterson?

—Ace

A new raft of stuff has come out since I posted this in the sidebar and Allah has the links.

I'll go straight to the most salacious rumor:

The New York Daily News' Liz Benjamin points to a weird letter to the editor of the Post from the State Superintendent, who flatly denies the recent Page Six story on Paterson dining (and nuzzling) with a lady who is not his wife. And supposedly the bombshell story will make the earlier adultery revelations look tame in comparison.

For what it's worth, there is a rumor that the governor and his wife are swingers.

But that's from Gawker, which is apparently libel-proof or something, so take that as the rumor it is.

None of this really matters, of course.

No one takes the job of Lieutenant Governor seriously, do they?

Improved Headline... Thanks to Uncle Facts, Summoner of Meteors.

Steyn: Glaciers Aren't Melting. The IPCC's Credibility Is.

—Ace

The IPCC made the "Himalayan glaciers melted by 2030" claim in a footnote in their 2007 report.

Their source? A 2005 World Wildlife Fund (an advocacy organization) report which mentioned the claim.

And their source? A 1999 article in pop-science magazine.

And that guy's source? A scientist who now admits he was merely "idly speculating" and had done absolutely no research whatsoever on the topic whatsoever.

So this went from a 1999 "helper quote" -- look, the guy just said this to give the writer something juicy for a nothing little article -- to accepted IPCC fact in less than ten years, with absolutely no science whatsoever supporting it.

And the IPCC now admits there was never any science behind it, but it was just the sort of thing they thought they should put in:

Dr. Murari Lal, the “scientist” who included the 2035 glacier apocalypse in the IPCC report, told Britain’s Mail on Sunday that he knew it wasn’t based on “peer-reviewed science” but “we thought we should put it in”—for political reasons.

Ah. We thought we should put it in. The alternate step three in the scientific process. Experiment, and/or just "put it in" if you feel like it.

Now, Dr. Pachauri is the railroad engineer (yes, really) heading the IPCC. He at first rejected the trashing of this ridiculous claim (which should have been obvious as crank, based simply on visual inspection and common sense) as "voodoo science." He has since been forced to retract this stupidity.

The scientist, or whatever he is, who first "idly speculated" about the Himalayan apocalypse on the telly with a journalist in 1999 is named Syed Hasnain.

Check this shit out -- and know ye how the science gets "settled."

Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, the self-aggrandizing old bruiser and former railroad engineer who serves as head honcho of the IPCC jet set, dismissed Mr. Raina’s research as “voodoo science.” He’s now been obliged to admit the voodoo was all on his side. But don’t worry. By 2008, Syed Hasnain’s decade-old casual chit-chat over the phone to a London journalist had become “settled science,” so Dr. Pachauri’s company TERI (The Energy & Resources Institute) approached the Carnegie Corporation for a grant to research “challenges to South Asia posed by melting Himalayan glaciers,” and was rewarded with half a million bucks. Which they promptly used to hire Syed Hasnain. In other words, professor Hasnain has landed a cushy gig researching solutions to an entirely non-existent global crisis he accidentally invented over a 15-minute phone call 10 years earlier. As they say in the glacier business, ice work if you can get it.

Well. Isn't that special.

Mexican TV Continues Being Pure Awesome (Except for All the Damn Mexicans)

—Ace

What if you're really into LARPing (live action role playing -- sort of like taking D&D to the next level by throwing in some sexual asphyxia while you're rolling dice) but aren't really active or athletic enough to wield a foam-rubber sword and scamper around someone's patio doing bad British accents?

How about we take all social activity and physical activity out of the whole thing, too, so you can watch it on TV? Alone, in the darkness, with no friend in the world but your lonely morbidity?

Sounds great. So here's a Mexican TV show which has turned LARPing into a game show, where you collect (and this part, I admit, gives me a throbbing nerd-on) real silver pieces as your prizes.

Asgaard. I wonder if that's how the Mexicans really spell Asgard, or if the habit of tasteless vowel-mutations to indicate fantasy (or heavy metal album titles) is now a Mexican practice as well.

Also, Scandis invent the worst music form in the world, some kind of fusion of Eurobubble synthpop and Insane Clown Posse.

Both thanks to MattM.