Still Kicking Ass

Seriously, at this point, can we just force Chris Christie to run for President (hat tip: Hot Air)? Or make him promise to accept the nomination for VP?

Well, He Would Know What A Fascist Is

Pot, meet kettle.  It's stupid analogies like this by the Left that made Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism  a bestseller.  Castro ran a fascist state for nearly 50 years -- him calling the Tea Parties fascist only makes sense if you're a complete moron.

Of course, Castro was speaking to visiting college students, so maybe he just knew his audience...

One Of These Things Are Not Like The Other

Great, great picture that tells you all you need to know (hat tip: Instapundit).  Part of me wonders if I could come up with a joke alleging that the IRS is racist, based on disparate impact analysis... but it's not worth it.

The real shame of it is that I'm pretty sure Wesley's been more helpful to the United States of America than the other three.  After all, he saved all those passengers in Passenger 57, fended off a vampire problem for the rest of us in Blade, and scored the winning run for the Indians to beat the Yankees in the one-game playoff in Major League.  When's the last time Tim Geithner stopped a vampire?

Great Moments in Bad Movies

Happened to catch about five minutes of the opening of Josie and the Pusseycats on cable last night (this is what happens when you wake up and left the TV on the USA network).  I never saw it and still have no desire to do so, despite thinking Rachel Leigh Cook looks pretty good.  But I never knew the movie featured a parody of a boy band with a hit song called "Back Door Lover."  Sometimes, even a gawdawful movie has a funny moment.

There's A Large Part Of The Voting Public That Would Prefer Congress Shut Up

Senator Jay Rockefeller expresses his desire for censorship...

There’s a part of Senator Jay Rockefeller, Democrat of West Virginia, that would like to see Fox News Channel and MSNBC vanish.


At a Senate committee hearing about television retransmission consent on Wednesday, Mr. Rockefeller spoke broadly about the ways he believes television is ailing, and in doing so, he singled out the “endless barking” of cable news.


He said: “There’s a little bug inside of me which wants to get the F.C.C. to say to Fox and to MSNBC, ‘Out. Off. End. Goodbye.’ It would be a big favor to political discourse; to our ability to do our work here in Congress; and to the American people, to be able to talk with each other and have some faith in their government and, more importantly, in their future.”


There is little the Federal Communications Commission can say about Fox News or MSNBC since the channels are on cable, not delivered over the broadcast airwaves.

First of all, it's an asinine statement to make, because elected officials should not be advocating shutting down free expression. More to the point, what Rockefeller seems to find offensive is that news institutions are undermining faith in government... as if our governmental institutions, led by Congress, don't do that all by their lonesome.

I Wonder What Told Them He's Incompetent

The story's a few days old, but it's not all that encouraging to Democrats that several Senators from their own party are busy telling Joe Scarborough that Obama doesn't know what he's doing.  I'm impressed that they figured it out -- it only took two years, an electoral debacle, plummeting approval ratings, and spectacular mismanagement of the job of Chief Executive, but they finally figured out what several of us thought in 2008... which is that Barack Obama is not up to the job of President.  Unfortunately, we elected him to the position and still have at least two more years of his "leadership."

I guess it could be worse.  Imagine if President Obama resigned.  At present, the next two people in line for succession are Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi.  (shudder)  I think we all need a drink.

What Annoying Song Is Stuck In My Head Today?

If I need to suffer with a song stuck in my head, why shouldn't you have to do the same? Sometimes they're good, most times they're bad... but no matter what, they make you suffer. So I like to share the suffering whenever it happens.

This isn't annoying -- not this morning, not following the Iggles' 59-28 evisceration of the Redskins last night on Monday Night Football.  There's nothing better than watching the Birds beat up a division rival, particularly when you live in the town where that division rival is located.  In their honor, it only seems appropriate to play a little Sir Elton.



You're welcome.

Don't Complain, Paul

Paul Ryan says he's spoken to Nancy Pelosi once, for about 30 seconds, in six years on the Hill.  A few thoughts:

1.  That's 30 seconds more than I could endure.
2.  Does being subjected to one-on-one conversation with Pelosi count as an enhanced interrogation technique?
3.  This is why Ryan is still sane despite having been in Congress for six years.
4.  The Democrats plan to re-elect this sterling example of someone who reaches out to the other side to their leadership.  Just remember this when they complain about a lack of bipartsianship. 

Chemistry Would Have Been Much Easier If We Studied This Table

Loyal reader ST directs to the coolest periodic table we've ever seen.  Gotta love that Reggie Jackson might be the least volatile radioactive element.

The Health Care Follies Continue

The government is granting waivers from the health care reform bill requirements to groups that advocated for said reform.  I'm pretty sure that we're through the looking glass, people.

He Is The One He's Been Waiting For

I know all Presidents have massive egos -- it's like a prerequisite for the job.  But Jonathan Last's profile of President Obama reminds of one fact that always stands out to me about him -- he seemingly never really laughs at himself, mostly because he really does believe himself to be something incredibly special.  Read the whole thing, but here's a good excerpt...

Obama’s vanity is even more jarring when paraded in the foreign arena. In April, Poland suffered a national tragedy when its president, first lady, and a good portion of the government were killed in a plane crash. Obama decided not to go to the funeral. He played golf instead. Though maybe it’s best that he didn’t make the trip. When he journeyed to Great Britain to meet with the queen he gave her an amazing gift: an iPod loaded with recordings of his speeches and pictures from his inauguration.


On November 9, 2009, Europe celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was kind of a big deal. They may not mention the Cold War in schools much these days, but it pitted the Western liberal order against a totalitarian ideology in a global struggle. In this the United States was the guarantor of liberty and peace for the West; had we faltered, no corner of the world would have been safe from Soviet domination.


President Obama has a somewhat different reading. He explains: “The Cold War reached a conclusion because of the actions of many nations over many years, and because the people of Russia and Eastern Europe stood up and decided that its end would be peaceful.” Pretty magnanimous of the Soviets to let the long twilight struggle end peacefully like that, especially after all we did to provoke them.

I have this feeling that if I invited the President to my daughter's birthday party, he'd show up sans gift (because the present would be his presence) and then be upset if the gift baskets didn't include copies of his books.  Then he'd insist on getting the corner piece of cake with all the extra icing.

It's Not Funny Because It Might be True

The older brother of the Lord of Truth (aka the Giant Auk) sends us the latest video from the folks at XtraNormal, who opt to attack the Fed's Quantitative Easing program.



This would be funny if it didn't terrify me as possibly being right.

MSNBC and Olbermann Continue Marriage Made In Hell

It sounds like Keith Olbermann is making things pretty gawdawful at MSNBC..  To be fair to Olbermann, though, it's hard to say how that's different from MSNBC normally.  It's entertaining that Olbermann makes his staff leave notes for him rather than allowing the serfs to speak to him, but my favorite part of the article is this paragraph...

But NBC executives say that the cable channel is far better positioned to withstand an Olbermann departure than it might have been a year ago. Rachel Maddow has emerged as a genuine star, Ed Schultz is gaining momentum, Chris Matthews has been energized by the midterm campaign, and Lawrence O’Donnell has successfully launched a new show in the 10 p.m. hour previously reserved for Countdown reruns.

Ed Scultz is gaining momentum? Toward what, regular mocking on the Daily Show? Don't get me started on Matthews either. Yeesh.

Meanwhile, the folks at MSNBC can see Fox News in the ratings, but only in the sense that the Hubble Telescope can see the Andromeda galaxy.

Bad Decisionmaking in DC That Does Not Involve A Politician

I'm a bit late to the party, but with the Eagles playing the Redskins on MNF tonight, there's been plenty of discussion regarding the Skins decision to bench Donovan McNabb a couple weeks ago, and it even managed to tread into the taboo issue of race...

Sports provide an escape, for the most part, from having to deal with real-world problems. And while issues such as racism, sexism (looking at you, New York Jets), and homophobia certainly affect sports and athletes, they are unwelcome intruders.


Shanahan said immediately after the game that McNabb didn't know the two-minute offense as well as backup Rex Grossman. As absurd as that sounded - especially after Grossman promptly fumbled the ball and the game away - Shanahan made it worse the next day by changing his story.


Now it was about McNabb's "cardiovascular" readiness to lead a two-minute offense. Because of injuries to his hamstrings, McNabb wasn't in the kind of shape he needed to be in. At least that's what Shanahan said a day later.


A week later, someone inside the team complex in Ashburn, Va., told ESPN "insider" Chris Mortensen that Shanahan and his son, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, had to cut their playbook in half for McNabb.


All of this led John Feinstein, a nationally respected sportswriter and author of several best-selling books, in a TV appearance Tuesday to accuse Shanahan of "racial coding." Feinstein also called for Shanahan to be fired.


...But is it possible that race is an issue between McNabb and the Shanahans? Now we're into an interesting area. Some background: Years ago, I had a fascinating conversation with someone who personally knew some of the top offensive-minded head coaches in the NFL. We were discussing Andy Reid's choice of McNabb as the No. 2 pick in the 1999 draft, as his franchise quarterback.


"People don't think that's as big a deal as it really is," the individual said then. "I know for a fact a few of these coaches wouldn't do it. They're just not comfortable with an African American quarterback, even now."

I will now officially violate my general rule against mixing politics with sports. A few points before that:

1. Shanahan's benching of McNabb was idiotic. Mostly because his backup was Rex Grossman. Chad Ochocinco summed this up far better than I could (now there's a sentence I never thought I would write).  The rationales offered by Shanny were crap as well.

2. McNabb may or may not be on the decline. I'm guessing he is, but it's actually hard to tell how much is actually age and how much is related to wearing that ugly-ass Redskins uniform.

3. The Skins are now making noise about extending McNabb again, which makes sense from a PR perspective. You don't deal a couple of relatively high picks for a QB who plays for only one season. And McNabb may not have many good alternative options, since Brad Childress is likely headed to the door in Minnesota.

4. Andy Reid and the Eagles may lose twice to McNabb this season (although I believe they will win tonight). But I still think they made the right move.

Now, on the race issue... Sheridan's doing the usual stirring of the pot that Philly columnists love to do, but the quote from his unnamed source regarding how NFL coaches think is telling of a mindset on the part of the source that the source views the world through a particular lens. Feinstein comes from the same mindset -- I heard him on ESPN 980 in DC later the same day discussing Sheridan's article and reiterating his previous statements. When one of the hosts said he thought Feinstein was off-base, Feinstein responded by pointing to the election and stating that it was similar to Shanahan's benching of McNabb, because some if not many of the voters who went to the polls wanted to deliver a rebuke to America's first African-American President.

I could write about a million words on this, but I will limit myself to three main points.

1. I have no earthly clue what if anything "racial coding" means -- my initial thought is that it's liberalspeak for "I can't say racist because people will dicount what I say, so here's a term that means the same thing."

Being tagged as a racist in modern America is effectively a scarlet letter barring one from polite company, as it should be if the charge is accurate.  But the fact that such a charge can effectively tar your personal reputation and kill your professional reputation makes me think that most moderately intelligent people will bend ove rbackward to avoid such a charge, even if they hold racist views.  That makes me question why Shanahan would engage in any sort of rhetoric that could be construed as racist, unless he is stupid and did it without meaning to be construed as racist.

Which strikes me as the most likely explanation, because I don't know what sort of support he would be trying to derive for his decision by engaging in "racial coding."  Does Feinstein believe that some substantial portion of the Redskins' fanbase or ownership/management is actually racist or subject to racial appeals, such that they'll come to support him if he indicates that he's ditching the black QB for a white one because of race?  Seriously?

2.  Liberals and conservatives view the world through different lenses.  Sheridan's unnamed source and Feinstein both seem willing to impute thoughts to others that their reasons for doing something (not drafting a black QB or voting GOP in the election) involve race.  The source seems to indicate he thinks this because of perception, not because someone actually said something that flat-out stated they preferred a white guy because they didn't trust a black guy.  Similarly, Feinsetin thinks people have unstated motives to vote against the President's party becuase he's black.

I'm guessing both would acknowledge that people might make the same decision for reasons not connected to race -- you might select a white QB because you think he's better, or you might select a Republican because you disagree with Obama's policies.  Where I'm guessing they disagree with me is that they believe more people are secretly guilty of racial bias than I do.

Maybe I just have a less cynical view of human nature, or maybe it's because I tend to think that people recognize the downsides of allowing your views regaridng someone else to be colored by their race (pun intended) as substantial.  And maybe it's because there seem to be quite a few African-American QBs and an African-American President in office despite whatever problems exist.

3.  There is a component of what Feinstein is saying that I understand.  If you're the coach of a team named the Redskins that plays in Washington, D.C., you cannot bench your accomplished African-American QB for a white QB of more modest accomplishment and then seem to indicate through back-channel sources that it's because the African-American QB can't grasp your complicated playbook.  Not only is it likely a lie, it's dumb because it can be construed as racist.

I have nothing more to say, save "GO IGGLES!"

Movie Analogies and the Election

I've watched Toy Story 3 so many times recently that Andrew Klavan's comparison of the movie to Election Night 2010 made too much sense.  Hell, even the movie's ending (with Buzz in Spanish mode dancing with Jessie) might somehow be linked to Harry Reid's demogoguary of the immigration issue to win re-election in Nevada.  For the record, though, I refuse to endorse the idea that we need to see the birth certificates for the Squeeze Toy Aliens.

I'll Never Report On More Important News

Wojr passes along news of great importance...

Vulture has learned that Fox has renewed The Simpsons for a 23rd season of animated adventures, taking it through its landmark 500th episode (specifically, it takes the show up to episode 515)... Longtime Simpsons show-runner Al Jean, while psyched about the renewal, said he can't claim to be the most excited one about the good news: "The happiest of all was the unicorn who pokes in all our DVDs," Jean told us. "He's getting extra hay out of this."


Fox's last Simpsons renewal, which was for two seasons, came back in February 2009. The show needs the extra lead time owing to its long production timetable, and with the new pickup, it will have enough episodes to air though at least spring 2012; Jean expects the 500th episode to be broadcast in February 2012... (For TV geeks keeping track, Lassie and Gunsmoke are the only prime-time shows that have produced more episodes, with 588 and 635, respectively.)


...For now, the next big event on The Simpsons calendar is the Thanksgiving-night broadcast premiere of The Simpsons Movie. Jean said he'll be watching to see just how Fox's standards and practices department deals with three major gags he says "we wouldn't be able to get away with on the show." The naughty trio: Homer giving a mob the middle finger, Bart exposing his penis, and Marge using the word "goddamn." He's especially curious considering how Fox has gotten more prudish about cartoon obscenity over the years: For example, they can no longer show Homer's bare rear end. "There was a period where we could show Homer's ass," Jean says.

There's several ways to go with this, but we'll refer to one of the classic episodes of the show for the following two quotes... first we have the Simpsons taking square aim at Lassie back in the early 1990's (they knew what the future held) when Smithers uttered this line at Burns' birthday party...

Smithers: "I have some sad news to report: a small puppy, not unlike Lassie, was just run over in the parking lot. [pause as audience gasps] And now it's time for the comedy stylings of Homer Simpson!"

Next, after getting beaten down for opting to moon the audience at said party, Homer promises Lisa he'll "never show his bare butt in public again." She's reluctant to believe him, and moments later, the truth comes out...

Bart: "Dad, I know you're discouraged, but please don't deny the world your fat can."
Homer: "Don't worry, boy, he'll be ready for your Aunt Selma's birthday."
Lisa: "I knew it."

Happy 500, guys.