Congrat's to DaTechGuy

I really don't want to talk about you-know-who-gate (please don't make me type that word, and by the way, will be never be done with that lazy, tired old suffix?).

But I do want to congratulate blogger/radio host Peter Ingemi, a.k.a. DaTechGuy, who has beefed up his resume with a column on the Twitter scandal in today's New York Post. That in turn has earned him a couple of TV and radio spots. And I think I heard Sean Hannity mention the column on his show, but I had to dive for the off-switch (kids in the room) before I could be certain.

The hard-working fedora-topped Ingemi has come a long way in a short period of time, and it couldn't be happening to a nicer, more courteous guy. I met him once at a DC Tea Party rally. Here he is with his frequent accomplice, blogger extraordinaire RS McCain:

Now go read DTG's piece, which is good. But I still don't want to write about it. Until I have to.


Linked by Michelle Malkin, who has made it a point to generously support small bloggers -- many thanks.

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Sarah's revenge

Hah! Sarah Palin forces the lazy liberal media to work for stories on her bus tour.


And the media babies are crying, hysterically:

It adds up to a dangerous situation, says CBS News Producer Ryan Corsaro.

"I just hope to God that one of these young producers with a camera whose bosses are making them follow Sarah Palin as a potential Republican candidate don't get in a car crash, because this is dangerous," he said.

Corsaro asked a member of Palin's team if he thought it was dangerous to have reporters forced to chase her from stop to stop. "You're the ones that are trailing us," he replied. 

Cue laugh track!

This might be the understatement of the summer:

I don't think I owe anything to the mainstream media.

Darn right.

***

Heh. Reporters are feeling manipulated by Sarah, like a cat feels manipulated by catnip.

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But what about his pant-crease?

RS McCain: T-Paw gets the kiss of death:  

David Brooks lumps Tim Pawlenty in with Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney and says, “I think it’s going to be one of those three.”

First of all, Huntsman has about as much chance of getting the nomination as David Brooks does. Secondly, can't Brooks just take a gander at their pant-creases and tell us now?

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Good cause!

From Carol at No Sheeples Here, a great way to help our troops:

Every Memorial Day, families and communities across the nation take time to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation. There are parades and picnics and concerts in the park. Many people today view it as simply another long weekend that marks the beginning of summer.

This Memorial Day, I’d like to ask you to be a hero and purchase a Care Package for one of our brave service members.

I know money is tight for most of us, but I’m asking you to sacrifice $24.99. You can spare that amount can’t you?

You can help make the daily routine of our troops a little more bearable and thank them for their service all at the same time.

Read the rest.

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For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity

Have a great Memorial Day weekend. Here's my traditional post:

Parents, grab your kids and browse through the 3400 Medal of Honor citations (a few below) or get a book from the library and sit down with it together. Our children  need to know about the heroes who have made, and continue to make, their way of life possible.

From one of the citations below:

When an exploding enemy mortar round severed 2d Lt. Bobo's right leg below the knee, he refused to be evacuated and insisted upon being placed in a firing position to cover the movement of the command group to a better location. With a web belt around his leg serving as a tourniquet and with his leg jammed into the dirt to curtain [sic] the bleeding, he remained in this position and delivered devastating fire into the ranks of the enemy attempting to overrun the marines.

*STOWERS, FREDDIE (WWI)

Corporal Stowers, distinguished himself by exceptional heroism on 28 September 1918 while serving as a squad leader in Company C, 371st Infantry Regiment, 93d Division. His company was the lead company during the attack on Hill 188, Champagne Marne Sector, France, during World War I. A few minutes after the attack began, the enemy ceased firing and began climbing up onto the parapets of the trenches, holding up their arms as if wishing to surrender. The enemy's actions caused the American forces to cease fire and to come out into the open. As the company started forward and when within about 100 meters of the trench line, the enemy jumped back into their trenches and greeted Corporal Stowers' company with interlocking bands of machine gun fire and mortar fire causing well over fifty percent casualties. Faced with incredible enemy resistance, Corporal Stowers took charge, setting such a courageous example of personal bravery and leadership that he inspired his men to follow him in the attack. With extraordinary heroism and complete disregard of personal danger under devastating fire, he crawled forward leading his squad toward an enemy machine gun nest, which was causing heavy casualties to his company. After fierce fighting, the machine gun position was destroyed and the enemy soldiers were killed. Displaying great courage and intrepidity Corporal Stowers continued to press the attack against a determined enemy. While crawling forward and urging his men to continue the attack on a second trench line, he was gravely wounded by machine gun fire. Although Corporal Stowers was mortally wounded, he pressed forward, urging on the members of his squad, until he died. Inspired by the heroism and display of bravery of Corporal Stowers, his company continued the attack against incredible odds, contributing to the capture of Hill 188 and causing heavy enemy casualties. Corporal Stowers' conspicuous gallantry, extraordinary heroism, and supreme devotion to his men were well above and beyond the call of duty, follow the finest traditions of military service, and reflect the utmost credit on him and the United States Army.

*MUNRO, DOUGLAS ALBERT (WWII)

Rank and organization: Signalman First Class, U.S. Coast Guard Born: 11 October 1919, Vancouver, British Columbia. Accredited to Washington. Citation: For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry m action above and beyond the call of duty as Petty Officer in Charge of a group of 24 Higgins boats, engaged in the evacuation of a battalion of marines trapped by enemy Japanese forces at Point Cruz Guadalcanal, on 27 September 1942. After making preliminary plans for the evacuation of nearly 500 beleaguered marines, Munro, under constant strafing by enemy machineguns on the island, and at great risk of his life, daringly led 5 of his small craft toward the shore. As he closed the beach, he signaled the others to land, and then in order to draw the enemy's fire and protect the heavily loaded boats, he valiantly placed his craft with its 2 small guns as a shield between the beachhead and the Japanese. When the perilous task of evacuation was nearly completed, Munro was instantly killed by enemy fire, but his crew, 2 of whom were wounded, carried on until the last boat had loaded and cleared the beach. By his outstanding leadership, expert planning, and dauntless devotion to duty, he and his courageous comrades undoubtedly saved the lives of many who otherwise would have perished. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

*MERRELL, JOSEPH F. (WWII)

Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company I, 15th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Lohe, Germany, 18 April 1945. Entered service at: Staten Island, N.Y. Birth: Staten Island, N.Y. G.O. No.: 21, 26 February 1946. Citation: He made a gallant, 1-man attack against vastly superior enemy forces near Lohe, Germany. His unit, attempting a quick conquest of hostile hill positions that would open the route to Nuremberg before the enemy could organize his defense of that city, was pinned down by brutal fire from rifles, machine pistols, and 2 heavy machineguns. Entirely on his own initiative, Pvt. Merrell began a single-handed assault. He ran 100 yards through concentrated fire, barely escaping death at each stride, and at pointblank range engaged 4 German machine pistolmen with his rifle, killing all of them while their bullets ripped his uniform. As he started forward again, his rifle was smashed by a sniper's bullet, leaving him armed only with 3 grenades. But he did not hesitate. He zigzagged 200 yards through a hail of bullets to within 10 yards of the first machinegun, where he hurled 2 grenades and then rushed the position ready to fight with his bare hands if necessary. In the emplacement he seized a Luger pistol and killed what Germans had survived the grenade blast. Rearmed, he crawled toward the second machinegun located 30 yards away, killing 4 Germans in camouflaged foxholes on the way, but himself receiving a critical wound in the abdomen. And yet he went on, staggering, bleeding, disregarding bullets which tore through the folds of his clothing and glanced off his helmet. He threw his last grenade into the machinegun nest and stumbled on to wipe out the crew. He had completed this self-appointed task when a machine pistol burst killed him instantly. In his spectacular 1-man attack Pvt. Merrell killed 6 Germans in the first machinegun emplacement, 7 in the next, and an additional 10 infantrymen who were astride his path to the weapons which would have decimated his unit had he not assumed the burden of the assault and stormed the enemy positions with utter fearlessness, intrepidity of the highest order, and a willingness to sacrifice his own life so that his comrades could go on to victory.

*PAGE, JOHN U. D. (Korea)

Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, X Corps Artillery, while attached to the 52d Transportation Truck Battalion. Place and date: Near Chosin Reservoir, Korea, 29 November to 10 December 1950. Entered service at: St. Paul, Minn. Born: 8 February 1904, Malahi Island, Luzon, Philippine Islands. G.O. No.: 21, 25 April 1957. Citation: Lt. Col. Page, a member of X Corps Artillery, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty in a series of exploits. On 29 November, Lt. Col. Page left X Corps Headquarters at Hamhung with the mission of establishing traffic control on the main supply route to 1st Marine Division positions and those of some Army elements on the Chosin Reservoir plateau. Having completed his mission Lt. Col. Page was free to return to the safety of Hamhung but chose to remain on the plateau to aid an isolated signal station, thus being cut off with elements of the marine division. After rescuing his jeep driver by breaking up an ambush near a destroyed bridge Lt. Col. Page reached the lines of a surrounded marine garrison at Koto-ri. He then voluntarily developed and trained a reserve force of assorted army troops trapped with the marines. By exemplary leadership and tireless devotion he made an effective tactical unit available. In order that casualties might be evacuated, an airstrip was improvised on frozen ground partly outside of the Koto-ri defense perimeter which was continually under enemy attack. During 2 such attacks, Lt. Col. Page exposed himself on the airstrip to direct fire on the enemy, and twice mounted the rear deck of a tank, manning the machine gun on the turret to drive the enemy back into a no man's land. On 3 December while being flown low over enemy lines in a light observation plane, Lt. Col. Page dropped handgrenades on Chinese positions and sprayed foxholes with automatic fire from his carbine. After 10 days of constant fighting the marine and army units in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir had succeeded in gathering at the edge of the plateau and Lt. Col. Page was flown to Hamhung to arrange for artillery support of the beleaguered troops attempting to break out. Again Lt. Col. Page refused an opportunity to remain in safety and returned to give every assistance to his comrades. As the column slowly moved south Lt. Col. Page joined the rear guard. When it neared the entrance to a narrow pass it came under frequent attacks on both flanks. Mounting an abandoned tank Lt. Col. Page manned the machine gun, braved heavy return fire, and covered the passing vehicles until the danger diminished. Later when another attack threatened his section of the convoy, then in the middle of the pass, Lt. Col. Page took a machine gun to the hillside and delivered effective counterfire, remaining exposed while men and vehicles passed through the ambuscade. On the night of 10 December the convoy reached the bottom of the pass but was halted by a strong enemy force at the front and on both flanks. Deadly small-arms fire poured into the column. Realizing the danger to the column as it lay motionless, Lt. Col. Page fought his way to the head of the column and plunged forward into the heart of the hostile position. His intrepid action so surprised the enemy that their ranks became disordered and suffered heavy casualties. Heedless of his safety, as he had been throughout the preceding 10 days, Lt. Col. Page remained forward, fiercely engaging the enemy single-handed until mortally wounded. By his valiant and aggressive spirit Lt. Col. Page enabled friendly forces to stand off the enemy. His outstanding courage, unswerving devotion to duty, and supreme self-sacrifice reflect great credit upon Lt. Col. Page and are in the highest tradition of the military service.

*PITSENBARGER WILLIAM H. (Vietnam)

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of The Congress the Medal of Honor to

AIRMAN FIRST CLASS WILLIAM H. PITSENBARGER
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Airman First Class Pitsenbarger distinguished himself by extreme valor on 11 April 1966 near Cam My, Republic of Vietnam, while assigned as a Pararescue Crew Member, Detachment 6, 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron. On that date, Airman Pitsenbarger was aboard a rescue helicopter responding to a call for evacuation of casualties incurred in an ongoing firefight between elements of the United States Army's 1st Infantry Division and a sizeable enemy force approximately 35 miles east of Saigon. With complete disregard for personal safety, Airman Pitsenbarger volunteered to ride a hoist more than one hundred feet through the jungle, to the ground. On the ground, he organized and coordinated rescue efforts, cared for the wounded, prepared casualties for evacuation, and insured that the recovery operation continued in a smooth and orderly fashion. Through his personal efforts, the evacuation of the wounded was greatly expedited. As each of the nine casualties evacuated that day was recovered, Airman Pitsenbarger refused evacuation in order to get more wounded soldiers to safety. After several pick-ups, one of the two rescue helicopters involved in the evacuation was struck by heavy enemy ground fire and was forced to leave the scene for an emergency landing. Airman Pitsenbarger stayed behind on the ground to perform medical duties. Shortly thereafter, the area came under sniper and mortar fire. During a subsequent attempt to evacuate the site, American forces came under heavy assault by a large Viet Cong force. When the enemy launched the assault, the evacuation was called off and Airman Pitsenbarger took up arms with the besieged infantrymen. He courageously resisted the enemy, braving intense gunfire to gather and distribute vital ammunition to American defenders. As the battle raged on, he repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to care for the wounded, pull them out of the line of fire, and return fire whenever he could, during which time he was wounded three times. Despite his wounds, he valiantly fought on, simultaneously treating as many wounded as possible. In the vicious fighting that followed, the American forces suffered 80 percent casualties as their perimeter was breached, and Airman Pitsenbarger was fatally wounded. Airman Pitsenbarger exposed himself to almost certain death by staying on the ground, and perished while saving the lives of wounded infantrymen. His bravery and determination exemplify the highest professional standards and traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Air Force.

*BOBO, JOHN P. (Vietnam)

Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 3d Battalion, 9th Marines, 3d Marine Division (Rein), FMF. Place and date: Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam, 30 March 1967. Entered service at: Buffalo, N.Y. Born: 14 February 1943, Niagara Falls, N.Y. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Company 1 was establishing night ambush sites when the command group was attacked by a reinforced North Vietnamese company supported by heavy automatic weapons and mortar fire. 2d Lt. Bobo immediately organized a hasty defense and moved from position to position encouraging the outnumbered marines despite the murderous enemy fire. Recovering a rocket launcher from among the friendly casualties, he organized a new launcher team and directed its fire into the enemy machine gun positions. When an exploding enemy mortar round severed 2d Lt. Bobo's right leg below the knee, he refused to be evacuated and insisted upon being placed in a firing position to cover the movement of the command group to a better location. With a web belt around his leg serving as a tourniquet and with his leg jammed into the dirt to curtain [sic] the bleeding, he remained in this position and delivered devastating fire into the ranks of the enemy attempting to overrun the marines. 2d Lt. Bobo was mortally wounded while firing his weapon into the main point of the enemy attack but his valiant spirit inspired his men to heroic efforts, and his tenacious stand enabled the command group to gain a protective position where it repulsed the enemy onslaught. 2d Lt. Bobo's superb leadership, dauntless courage, and bold initiative reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

*MARTINI, GARY W. (Vietnam)

Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, Company F, 2d Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division. place and date: Binh Son, Republic of Vietnam, 21 April 1967. Entered service at: portland, Oreg. Born: 21 September 1948, Lexington, Va. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. On 21 April 1967, during Operation UNION* elements of Company F, conducting offensive operations at Binh Son, encountered a firmly entrenched enemy force and immediately deployed to engage them. The marines in Pfc. Martini's platoon assaulted across an open rice paddy to within 20 meters of the enemy trench line where they were suddenly struck by hand grenades, intense small arms, automatic weapons, and mortar fire. The enemy onslaught killed 14 and wounded 18 marines, pinning the remainder of the platoon down behind a low paddy dike. In the face of imminent danger, Pfc. Martini immediately crawled over the dike to a forward open area within 15 meters of the enemy position where, continuously exposed to the hostile fire, he hurled hand grenades, killing several of the enemy. Crawling back through the intense fire, he rejoined his platoon which had moved to the relative safety of a trench line. From this position he observed several of his wounded comrades Lying helpless in the fire-swept paddy. Although he knew that 1 man had been killed attempting to assist the wounded, Pfc. Martini raced through the open area and dragged a comrade back to a friendly position. In spite of a serious wound received during this first daring rescue, he again braved the unrelenting fury of the enemy fire to aid another companion Lying wounded only 20 meters in front of the enemy trench line. As he reached the fallen marine, he received a mortal wound, but disregarding his own condition, he began to drag the marine toward his platoon's position. Observing men from his unit attempting to leave the security of their position to aid him, concerned only for their safety, he called to them to remain under cover, and through a final supreme effort, moved his injured comrade to where he could be pulled to safety, before he fell, succumbing to his wounds. Stouthearted and indomitable, Pfc. Martini unhesitatingly yielded his life to save 2 of his comrades and insure the safety of the remainder of his platoon. His outstanding courage, valiant fighting spirit and selfless devotion to duty reflected the highest credit upon himself, the Marine Corps, and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

*MURPHY, MICHAEL P. (Afghanistan)

Rank and Organization: Lieutenant, United States Navy
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as the leader of a special reconnaissance element with Naval Special Warfare Task Unit Afghanistan on 27 and 28 June 2005. While leading a mission to locate a high-level anti-coalition militia leader, Lieutenant Murphy demonstrated extraordinary heroism in the face of grave danger in the vicinity of Asadabad, Konar Province, Afghanistan. On 28 June 2005, operating in an extremely rugged enemy-controlled area, Lieutenant Murphy's team was discovered by anti-coalition militia sympathizers, who revealed their position to Taliban fighters. As a result, between 30 and 40 enemy fighters besieged his four-member team. Demonstrating exceptional resolve, Lieutenant Murphy valiantly led his men in engaging the large enemy force. The ensuing fierce firefight resulted in numerous enemy casualties, as well as the wounding of all four members of the team. Ignoring his own wounds and demonstrating exceptional composure, Lieutenant Murphy continued to lead and encourage his men. When the primary communicator fell mortally wounded, Lieutenant Murphy repeatedly attempted to call for assistance for his beleaguered teammates. Realizing the impossibility of communicating in the extreme terrain, and in the face of almost certain death, he fought his way into open terrain to gain a better position to transmit a call. This deliberate, heroic act deprived him of cover, exposing him to direct enemy fire. Finally achieving contact with his Headquarters, Lieutenant Murphy maintained his exposed position while he provided his location and requested immediate support for his team. In his final act of bravery, he continued to engage the enemy until he was mortally wounded, gallantly giving his life for his country and for the cause of freedom. By his selfless leadership, courageous actions, and extraordinary devotion to duty, Lieutenant Murphy reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

*MONSOOR, MICHAEL, A. (Iraq)

Rank and Organization: Master-At-Arms Second Class (Sea, Air And Land), United States Navy
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as automatic weapons gunner for Naval Special Warfare Task Group Arabian Peninsula, in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM on 29 September 2006. As a member of a combined SEAL and Iraqi Army Sniper Overwatch Element, tasked with providing early warning and stand-off protection from a rooftop in an insurgent held sector of Ar Ramadi, Iraq, Petty Officer Monsoor distinguished himself by his exceptional bravery in the face of grave danger. In the early morning, insurgents prepared to execute a coordinated attack by reconnoitering the area around the element's position. Element snipers thwarted the enemy's initial attempt by eliminating two insurgents. The enemy continued to assault the element, engaging them with a rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire. As enemy activity increased, Petty Officer Monsoor took position with his machine gun between two teammates on an outcropping of the roof. While the SEALs vigilantly watched for enemy activity, an insurgent threw a hand grenade from an unseen location, which bounced off Petty Officer Monsoor's chest and landed in front of him. Although only he could have escaped the blast, Petty Officer Monsoor chose instead to protect his teammates. Instantly and without regard for his own safety, he threw himself onto the grenade to absorb the force of the explosion with his body, saving the lives of his two teammates. By his undaunted courage, fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of certain death, Petty Officer Monsoor gallantly gave his life for his country, thereby reflecting great credit upon himself and upholding the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

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Brave new world: Breastfeeding men and genderless kids

Michael Thomsen wants to make mother's milk. I guess he's serious, because he documents his efforts, which he says spring from curiosity:

The more I learned about male lactation, the more curious I became. I'm 33 years old and single in New York City, a cross between Carrie Bradshaw and George Costanza—if there's such a thing as a male biological clock, mine has started ticking. I know I can't birth a child myself, but what if I could bear one to suck at my bosom? Could my rudimentary mammae yield a copious supply of milk?

Thomsen tries to assemble evidence that breastfeeding males exist in nature, but in his case, Mother Nature wasn't having it. The weeks-long effort was a dry run. (Note from an experienced breastfeeding mom: If Thomsen really wanted to trick his "breasts" into producing milk, he should have used an electric pump. The image of this poor schlub cranking away night and day with a manual pump is sadder than I can say.)

So he didn't produce even a drop. But he hasn't given up:

Maybe one day I'll try again to climb over the gender wall, this time risking the mortification of a swollen breast and the ominous side effects of hormone-boosting pharmaceuticals. It would be nice to have a better reason than curiosity, I think. Perhaps a little baby—someone in need of sustenance and intimacy, searching for a breast to nuzzle. Yours or mine could do.

What does that mean? Little babies don't just randomly fall from the sky; they emerge from women's bodies, and these women are called "mothers." Is he hoping there's one out there who will lend him her baby to wet-dry-nurse so he can "experience" "breast" "feeding," at her child's expense? I think there might be some laws against that.

And as to fully experiencing breastfeeding, sorry, but "swollen breasts" and "ominous" hormonal side effects come with the territory, sometimes accompanied by sore, bleeding nipples, plugged ducts, and breast infections. Biology may no longer be destiny, but the physical world still exists. I take some comfort in that.

See PJM and JACG for posts on the family that's decided not to divulge the sex of their baby for now, even to the grandparents.

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Arrogantly bumbling, or just arrogant?

In a way it really doesn't matter, because President Obama's actions will have their consequences regardless of the psychology behind them, but we're still trying to understand what makes the man tick. Great political minds continue to puzzle over his words and actions, asking the eternal question: Is he doing it on purpose? The latest "it" is his notorious pronouncements on Israel last week. Krauthammer:

The only remaining question is whether this perverse and ultimately self-defeating policy is born of genuine antipathy toward Israel or of the arrogance of a blundering amateur who refuses to see that he is undermining not just peace but the very possibility of negotiations.

Steyn:

I mean, what I find fascinating, thinking about this 1967 border stuff, is whether he intended it as a conscious shift in U.S. policy that would alarm the Israeli government, or whether with the casual arrogance of his half-wit 12 year old speechwriters, it just somehow got in there, and he finds himself standing up there saying it. That’s what I don’t understand.

I'll go with the casual arrogance, but who knows? It's a pretty horrifying state of affairs when it's impossible to distinguish a president's arrogant bumbling from his deliberate (and also arrogant) actions. Regardless, the arrogance is a constant. It's the hallmark of Obama's lousy temperament, so perfectly ill-suited to the job his deluded supporters gave him. (Read the rest of both items linked above.)

As for 2012:

Is Paul Ryan "leaving the door ajar" for a run? We link, you decide:
Bill Kristol
Jonah Goldberg
Andrew Stiles 

Husband points out that Ryan has no executive experience. Discuss.  

The DNC goes after Herman Cain. Cain's people say thanks for noticing:

“Are we surprised they are attacking Mr. Cain? No. Are we surprised it took this long? Maybe. He has a strong ground game. He has a lot of fervent support, as the most recent polls show. And once people hear Herman Cain they like Herman Cain.” [. . .]

“When you have somebody who is so likable and so respected on our side and among the American people as a whole, that is clearly making them nervous,” Carmichael added.

Shall we just make it a policy to vote for the candidate most vilified and smeared by the DNC and the liberal media? It's a pretty solid indicator of a candidate's commitment to genuine conservative principles, because the libs and their lapdogs attack those they most fear. Rush awards Sarah Palin the "most feared" title, but adds that Rick Perry and Rick Santorum also give liberals the willies. They don't fear Tim Pawlenty, but if he keeps up the inconvenient truth-telling and caustic tweets maybe that will change:

@BarackObama sorry to interrupt the European pub crawl, but what was your Medicare plan?

And hey, how about that awesome Obama budget? How many votes did it get in the Democrat-controlled Senate? Oh yeah: ZERO. Not one. That's how much of a joke Obama's "leadership" has become. No wonder the liberal media declined to report on the vote.


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Disposable lives

- "I thirst":

Doctors [in the UK] are prescribing drinking water for neglected elderly patients to stop them dying of thirst in hospital.

The measure – to remind nurses of the most basic necessity – is revealed in a damning report on pensioner care in NHS wards.

Some trusts are neglecting the elderly on such a fundamental level their wards could face closure orders.

The snapshot study, triggered by a Mail campaign, found staff routinely ignored patients’ calls for help and forgot to check that they had had enough to eat and drink.

Read the rest.

- I almost posted something about this on Mother's Day but decided it was too dark. Thanks to AS for reminding me about this ongoing horror: Gender-based feticide still a problem in India:

A woman identified only as Sunja, holds her daughter, a severely malnourished 9-month-old on her lap. When asked why the baby is so sick she just shrugs her shoulders. “My mother-in-law says a boy is necessary.” She says.

Mother–in-laws have strong control over their son’s wives, influencing the number of children they bare, and even bullying the women into having a boy.

“Everyone wants a boy. A boy will take care of you in your old age.” Munni, an unhappy mother-in-law says. Her daughter-in-law has just had her 6th girl in 12 years.

The newest statistics have been announced and for every 1,000 boys that reach 6 years of age, only 825 girls make it to the same age, due to the poor nourishment and care that they receive. [. . .]

A local social worker, Sudha Misra says, “If a woman has a boy, for a month she will be looked after. If she has a girl, she’ll be back in the fields in three days.”

“Women cry when they have girls.” says Lalith Gujar, a nurse. New mothers in India face neglect, bad nutrition and horrible guilt and blame for having a daughter. For the impoverished, a girl will result in abuse and overall mistreatment for both mother and infant. The chances for girls are not good, and according to the numbers, it’s only getting worse.

Dreadful. Wesley Smith sums it up well:

What a tragedy. But who are we to complain? We use prenatal tests to search and destroy fetuses with genetic anomalies such as Down syndrome and dwarfism.

Pick your poison. Prenatal testing combined with abortion are now used throughout the world to identify and cull categories of unwanted human beings.

Thanks very much to Michelle Malkin and CMR for linking.
Also linked by Larwyn -- thanks!
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Don't they know who he is?

- Please don't you be my neighbor:

Mr. Strauss-Kahn originally planned to live under house arrest at the Bristol Plaza, a building on East 65th Street, while his case was pending; those plans were scrapped after residents and the landlord objected to his moving in there. The residents of 71 Broadway were no happier that Mr. Strauss-Kahn was living among them, even temporarily.

Don't they know who he is? Why, yes, they do. That's the problem.

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Various & sundry: Paradise lost

Today's must-read is Where Dreams Die, another moving California elegy from Victor Davis Hanson:

I prefer the beauty of the Napa and Sonoma valleys to Tuscany; the former lacks only the majestic Roman and Renaissance history of the Italian countryside. Human genius in just a half-century has almost matched 2500 years of Italian viticulture. The California coast — the hills, beaches, and landscape — could be in the Peloponnese and easily stands the comparison. When early summer finally comes to the state in late spring, as it did last week, the result is almost divine: warmth and light without high humidity, daily rains, or high winds.

They say the Central Valley is the ugliest part of the state; I disagree. Last week from my great-great-grandmother’s upstairs balcony I could see snow capped mountains tower just thirty miles away; in-between were millions of green trees and vines and the water towers of small towns in every direction. Nothing in Spain or southern France is prettier. A man would have to be mad to leave such beauty, and the brilliant work of his predecessors who as artists built the dams and canals, laid out the agrarian patchwork, founded these communities that serve as bookends to the works of architectural and municipal genius in San Francisco, or Los Angeles and San Diego. Yes, a man would have to be mad — or quite rational — to leave paradise lost.

You see, here is the situation in California. Tens of thousands of prisoners are scheduled by a U.S. Supreme Court order to be released. But why this inability to house our criminals when we pay among the highest sales, income, and gas taxes in the nation? Too many criminals? Too few new prisons? Too high costs per prisoner? Too many non-violent crimes that warrant incarceration? God help us when they are released. We know what crime is like now; what will it be like if thousands are let go? I doubt they will end up in the yards of the justices who let them out.

Read the whole thing. Then see Peter Wehner on the prison decision and Justice Scalia's "blistering" dissent:

Justice Antonin Scalia offered a withering and powerfully argued dissent, saying that what the Court did “affirms what is perhaps the most radical injunction issued by a court in our Nation’s history.” (Scalia felt so strongly about the decision that he issued a rare oral dissent.)

People should read the Scalia dissent (as well as the dissent by Justice Alito) for themselves, but to summarize his case: The mere existence of the inadequate system does not subject to cruel and unusual punishment the entire prison population in need of medical care, including those who receive it; it is inconceivable that anything more than a small proportion of prisoners in the plaintiff classes have personally received sufficiently atrocious treatment that their Eighth Amendment right was violated; there is no procedural principle that justifies certifying a class of plaintiffs so they may assert a claim of systemic unconstitutionality; and the notion that the plaintiff class can allege an Eighth Amendment violation based on “systemwide deficiencies” is assuredly wrong.

“It is also worth noting the peculiarity that the vast majority of inmates most generously rewarded by the release order—the 46,000 whose incarceration will be ended—do not form part of any aggrieved class even under the Court’s expansive notion of constitutional violation,” Scalia added. “Most of them will not be prisoners with medical conditions or severe mental illness; and many will undoubtedly be fine physical specimens who have developed intimidating muscles pumping iron in the prison gym.”

RTR. Other items:

- Jonah Goldberg isn't taking Paul Ryan's no for an answer. Jonah has written a column and a Corner post explaining why Ryan should run:

I think he could go all the way. I think he’s as close as we’ll ever get to a ”Obama” candidate this year — a charismatic guy who taps into something in the zeitgeist and can articulate it in a compelling way. He’s certainly the only guy out there who can sell the Path to Prosperity. I’d like to think that if he got in the race, he’d win the primary and then take the fight to Obama. But that’s all hypothetical at this point. We’ll never know for sure if he doesn’t throw his hat in.

I'm convinced. But I don't think Ryan will change his mind.

- President Obama's overrated oratory skills look even worse in light of Israeli PM Netanyahu's address to Congress. Michelle Malkin knows one reason why:

Notice how Netanyahu did not have to repeatedly invoke “Let me be clear” Obama-isms in his oratory?

That’s because clarity is the product of profound individual moral understanding. It can’t be conjured up by committee & fed through a teleprompter. There’s no faking it.

- The Obamas have had a rough trip. Between the wind, some car trouble, more wind, and a couple of awkward oopsies, how all occasions did inform against them.

- Speaking of trips, wouldn't a cruise be a lovely 30th (or so) wedding anniversary gift? No need to splurge on the $4500 Deluxe Suite with Verandah -- the humble $3K (cough -- per person -- cough) cabin will do just fine. The speaker list is impressive, and "all manner of sophisticated amenities" are included. (Oh yeah, and Mark Steyn will be there, too.)

- Contemporary therapy-speak calls them "sex addicts" but I see that the term "sex fiend" is making a modest comeback, as in "alleged hotel sex fiend" and "sex-fiend cokehead composer." Fiends, indeed.


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Oprah never can say good-bye

Get a load of Oprah's long, long "good-bye" (she's not really going away), a "star-studded" we're-all-so-great-aren't-we fest that would pass for self-parody if we didn't know the "stars" were incapable of it, as retold by Lisa de Moraes:

Monday’s show went like this:

“The Greatest, Grandest, Most Spectacular Surprise Ever,” Voice-over Guy continued modestly.

“With the help of some of the Biggest. Stars. On. The. Planet. . . . Living Legends.”

Out came Oprah in a long purple gown, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, to greet her thousands of Ultimate Fans in Chicago’s United Center, where the special was taped late last week, to accommodate the thousands of fans who attended.

The night’s first surprise: Tom Hanks, who would fill the role of master of ceremonies.

“Oh yeah!” Oprah shrieked. “Let the games begin!”

“You’re Oprah Winfrey!” Hanks said.

“You’re Tom Hanks!” Oprah observed.

Kindly pass me a bucket.

Pulling off this super-secret show has been darned near a “Mission Impossible,” Hanks hinted as he cued up the next super-celebrity.

Can it be? It is! Tom Cruise! He hugged Oprah while simultaneously fist-pumping Hanks. Cruise wore gray slacks, black henley and an I’m-on-“Oprah” crazy-man grin.

“Woo-hoo! Tom Hanks! Tom Cruise!” Oprah said, to recap.

But wait, there's more!

“Oprah! Oprah! Oprah!” the crowd screamed as it returned to our TV. Hanks was back, telling Oprah that one of her ultimate viewers just flew in from New York — a hardworking mother of four who says the show means the world to her.

Who could this hardworking mother be?

Madonna!

“Get OUT!” Oprah screamed as Madonna walked out onstage, dressed as a ’40s film star attending a parent-teacher meeting.

“It’s no secret millions of people are inspired by Oprah. I am one of those people,” Madonna said, swiftly turning the talk to, well, Madonna.

Et cetera. I don't know how people sit through this drivel. But I am a little sorry I missed Beyonce's tribute to Girl Grads, which sounds, um . . . inspiring!

And speaking of graduating, as Beyonce gave this moving speech, she was surrounded by a chorus of young women — all beautiful, all leggy. Some were wearing white mortarboard caps and gowns that barely covered their bottoms. Others had on crisp white shirts, suspenders, reading glasses, long red gloves, very high red heels and little black strips of fabric that were once skirts before some fool put them through the dry cycle. Beyonce and her girls proceeded to do a Girl Power bump-and-grind while Oprah watched with her mouth open. As was ours — though we think for different reasons.

Role models!

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Various & sundry: Scott Brown misfires against Ryan plan

It's splitsville for William Jacobson and Scott Brown. Prof. Jacobson calls Sen. Brown's sloppy criticisms of the Ryan plan "a dodge":

I don't blame you for voting against the Ryan bill; I don't have litmus tests, and while I think the overall framework is the right direction, I can't argue with the fact that people may have specific alternatives or amendments.

But you don't have alternatives. In your op-ed you simply repeat the hackneyed and failed notions of waste, fraud and abuse, with tort reform thrown in. That will not cut it. That is a dodge.

You apparently have no solutions to what you admit to be an unsustainable course, but you took the opportunity to imply that Republicans will abandon seniors. You don't come right out and say it, but you came pretty close.

Yes, indeed. Brown:

What’s important is that we get started now and, where appropriate, phase changes in over time. This phase-in should be another principle of reform: give our future seniors enough years to adjust to the “new normal.”

Yikes! Has he even read the plan? The changes are phased in. This is either profoundly stupid or grossly dishonest. Or an unholy mixture of the two. Jennifer Rubin:

He’s simply doesn’t understand the Ryan plan. It is phased in, beginning with those under 55 years old. Current retirees and those approaching retirement aren’t affected.

He also says that instead of systemic reform we should go after “10 percent, or $47 billion, of annual Medicare spending [that] is nothing but waste, fraud or abuse.” My gosh, why didn’t we all think of that! Ryan’s plan does do that, in fact, but what serious observer thinks this is sufficient?

Brown also proclaims, “I’d also institute tort reform to limit frivolous lawsuits.” Umm, so does Ryan’s plan. Has Brown even read Ryan’s plan?

Next up for Brown: “What’s important is that we get started now and, where appropriate, phase changes in over time. This phase-in should be another principle of reform: give our future seniors enough years to adjust to the ‘new normal.’ ” That’s the basis of Ryan’s plan. Could the work of Brown’s staff be this shabby or is he trying to be oppositional for the sake of boosting his street cred in liberal Massachusetts?

My emphasis. Brown should be embarrassed. RTR.

Speaking of the "new normal," who's up for some real change, the convulsive kind that will come if we just do nothing? Mark Steyn sees some pretty terrible things not too far down the road if we fail to correct course: young vs. old, white vs. non-white, solvent vs. insolvent states:

How many citizens of the remaining relatively solvent states are prepared to pick up the tab for Detroit's Allermuir chairs for the privilege of keeping 50 stars in the flag? The spendaholics are setting up conditions for serious secession movements. [. . .]

We're approaching the point of no return. If you scuttle the Ryan plan, the next one will be far more convulsive. Assuming there is a "plan" at all, rather than simply societal disintegration. From Scott Brown to Mitch Daniels, from the post-November business-as-usual to a potential Democrat upset in NY-26, it's starting to look as if the political institutions of the republic are impervious to course correction.

Read the whole thing.

About those Allermuir chairs:

Out there in Insolvistan life goes on. Detroit, a city that has the functioning literacy rate of a West African basket case, has just renovated its library with designer chairs from Allermuir costing $1,000 apiece. Any books to go with the chairs? Who cares? "How about the young mother with several children that looks forward to a weekly trek through the snow/sleet to improve their reading skills and are hopeful that a spot near the fireplaces will be open, because the warmth provided is greater than what they experience at home?" argues Allermuir sales rep Paul Gingell in a Dickensian vignette that warms the heart of my bottom almost as much as his chairs do. God forbid any Detroiter should be required to "improve their reading skills" without a thousand-dollar seat to sink their illiterate posteriors into. What matters is to keep spending at all costs. Three chairs for Detroit!

For the price of just one chair, Detroit could have invested in 84 copies of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. That, plus 15 minutes a day from a minimally literate parent, would do more for "improving reading skills" (of both  parent and child) than a designer chair whose most impressive feature is its four-figure price tag.

Looking ahead to 2012, have "Obama's Catholics" learned anything since he was elected? Stephen Phelan thinks some of them will be swayed by facts. I wouldn't bet on it, willful blindness being what it is. But yes, Obama's record on abortion is as clear and as abysmal as it could be:

As president, Obama has never missed a single opportunity in hiring, funding, or in any other way to promote unlimited, free access to abortion at any stage of pregnancy. This should come as no surprise since, as an Illinois State senator, he opposed legislation that would make it a crime to deny care to babies who survived abortion.

Every judicial and cabinet appointment relevant to the abortion issue has been unmistakably pro-abortion. Every foreign policy spending bill includes money, now liberated by Obama’s immediate reversal of the Mexico City Policy, for international performers of and promoters of abortion. Every time he has had any opportunity to expand access to and funding for abortion, Obama has done exactly that.

Serious people have stopped pretending Obama is pro-choice and wants to limit the number of abortions. As the 2012 election begins, Catholics who still consider the pro-abortion president to be a champion of “social justice” should be challenged to explain their defense of the president. Those of us who want to believe the best of these Catholics’ intentions deserve clear answers as to how anyone can still defend his record on life and justice issues, which as the Church understands it, are inextricably linked.

Read the rest.

From the NY Post, more unsavory details on the alleged international sex fiend DSK's alleged attack on a West African hotel maid. Good news: she allegedly shoved him into an alleged armoire and drew blood, in spite of his alleged reiterations of "Don't you know who I am?" 

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Biden in 2016!

He's available!

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Devastation in Joplin, Missouri

The tornado was about two-thirds of a mile wide:

Slideshow here. How to help here, via Michelle Malkin.

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Quel creep

From Steyn's weekend column on the simply irresistible Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the culture of elite entitlement that enabled him:

Great men who are prone to Big Government invariably have Big Appetites, and you comely serving wenches who catch the benign sovereign’s eye or anything else he’s shooting your way should keep in mind the Big Picture. [. . .]

Whatever the head of the IMF did or didn’t do, the reaction of the French elites is most instructive. “We and the Americans do not belong to the same civilization,” sniffed Jean Daniel, editor of Le Nouvel Observateur, insisting that the police should have known that Strauss-Kahn was “not like other men” and wondering why “this chambermaid was regarded as worthy and beyond any suspicion.” Bernard-Henri Lévy, the open-shirted, hairy-chested Gallic intellectual who talked Sarkozy into talking Obama into launching the Libyan war, is furious at the lèse-majesté of this impertinent serving girl and the jackanapes of America’s “absurd” justice system, not to mention this ghastly “American judge who, by delivering him to the crowd of photo hounds, pretended to take him for a subject of justice like any other.”

Quel dommage. But America isn't France, grâce à Dieu. Read the rest, then read  Steyn's follow-up:

I wrote this weekend about DSK and related matters, but I gotta say The New York Post is hard to beat:

And I gotta say, he's right. The column by Larry Celona and Annie Karni heaps on the ridicule such a troll deserves:

"What a nice ass!" he barked to the attendant, using the lewd French expression "Quel beau cul!" as she prepared the business-class cabin for takeoff last Saturday.

The final act of lust capped a whirlwind weekend of attempted womanizing for the former front-runner of the 2012 French presidential election. 

With an emphasis on "former." If the charges are true, the paunchy, white-haired  socialist is much more satyr than Hyperion:

Hungry for any piece of meat he could lay his hands on, the frisky Frenchman first tried his seduction skills on a VIP receptionist who escorted him to his suite at the Sofitel hotel in Midtown Friday evening, law-enforcement sources said.

When he got to his room, the 62-year-old asked the "attractive" worker to join him for a glass of champagne after her shift -- an invite she described to authorities as "inappropriate," and which she rejected on the spot, the sources said.

"Great Seducer"? What a whopping misnomer; "rutting chimpanzee" seems to capture his MO better. The "frustrated lothario's" alleged sexual attack on the hotel maid made her sick to her stomach. Isn't it romantic?

Now he's under house arrest in an apartment somewhere in Manhattan. Supposedly, he's paying the $200,000 in monthly expenses himself, but who knows where the money will really come from. His current digs may or may not be up to his usual standards, but they sure beat Rikers, and he can get out at least once a week:

He is allowed to leave the apartment only to travel within Manhattan for court appearances, meetings with his lawyers, medical appointments and a weekly religious observance.

No comment.

DSK is denying the charges, but given his alleged history, perhaps he'll eventually declare himself an "addict" who just needs "treatment." I could easily see a judge using that as an excuse to give him a pass.


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Feel-good story

For a change, an inspiring human-interest story from the Washington Post:

In February 1988, a ceiling fan fell on [Su] Meck’s head. The blow erased her memory, and she awoke after a week in a coma with the mental capacity of a young child. She no longer knew her husband or her two baby sons. She barely spoke and could not read or write, walk or eat, dress or drive.

“It was Su 2.0,” said Jim Meck, her husband, a systems engineer. “She had rebooted.”  [. . .]

An MRI exam showed her brain suffused with cracks, “like shaken Jell-O,” her husband was told. The injury left her with complete retrograde amnesia, the inability to remember the past, a condition sometimes called Hollywood amnesia because it seldom happens outside the movies.

“It was literally like she had died,” Jim said. “Her personality was gone.”

But apparently the original Su knew how to pick 'em. Something wonderful, not stressed by Post writer Daniel de Vise, is the way Jim Meck stuck with his wife through it all. In this era of disposable relationships and casual betrayal, his loyalty is worth noting. Read the whole thing.

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Mitch Daniels is out

Thumbs up to Mitch Daniels for deciding against putting his family through the misery of a presidential campaign. FOX News cites the Daniels' "unusual marital history," which was sure to attract lots of negative attention from the dumpster-diving liberal media who would surely go into full attack mode were he to get the nomination. You can't blame his wife for her reluctance to become the ant under the media's magnifying glass.

I'm not sorry to see him out of it. Daniels, a very able man, lost the trust of social conservatives when he called for a "truce" on social issues. Not surprisingly, he was a strong favorite among members of the GOP establishment, who, like Obama, just don't get those who cling bitterly to traditional values. This is likely a plus for Tim Pawlenty's chances.

Is it possible Daniels' exit might encourage other conservative candidates to come forward?

***
I see I've written exactly what what John Miller wrote here. I was thinking specifically of this, from Jennifer Rubin, written a week ago:

There is a lot of buzz that Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) may finally throw his hat into the ring. Ryan and his staff may think, “Well, Mitch can do it, we don’t have to.” 

But Mitch can't. Will someone pick up the slack?

***

Linked by Mark Steyn and Michelle Malkin -- thanks!

***

Michael Barone reviews the bidding.

We're forced to give up on Paul Ryan, who says no way as clearly as he can. So hey, how about Rick Perry?


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Friday various & sundry

- Jim Geraghty: In His Remarks, Obama Kept His ‘I’ on the Middle East

No wonder the Twitter hashtag for Obama’s remarks is “#mespeech.”

Of course, if I had to summarize the speech in just one of its sentences, it would be “We must proceed with a sense of humility.”

- Steyn says:

Well, at a certain level, it was filled with the usual narcissism. He said that America had failed to speak to the broader aspirations of people in the Middle East, and that’s why two years ago in Cairo, “I began to broaden our engagement.” I was interested to see the result of that. In 2008, which you’ll recall was the last year of the Bush, Texas cowboy terror, 83% of Arabs had a very or somewhat negative view of the United States. By 2010, which was the second year of the Obama broaden engagement approach, 85% had a very or somewhat negative view. So much for the outreach. The fact is that this narcissistic buffoon gave this speech that placed himself front and center of developments in the Middle East. And in fact, the United States, for the first time in 70 years, is utterly irrelevant to what’s going on in the Middle East.

Read the rest.

- Remember Libya? Tom Maguire:

Six Republican Senators query the Obama Administration on just what style of steaming dung the Administration propose to serve in order to feign compliance with the sixty-day limit on action in Libya seemingly required by the War Powers Act:

RTR. The media would handle this story a bit differently if it were playing out under a Republican administration, no? But since it's Obama's baby, we hear very little about it.

- Sen. Jim DeMint on the NLRB vs. Boeing: This "should not happen in America": 

DeMint remains infuriated with the National Labor Relations Board for bullying Boeing. “This situation borders on tyranny,” he says. “If an unelected, unaccountable, unconfirmed bureaucrat can threaten thousands of jobs and a billion-dollar investment, after the facility is virtually complete, it smacks of a Third World–type dictatorship.”

The NLRB, a federal agency, has attempted to block the aircraft manufacturer from building a production facility near Charleston. The NLRB claims that Boeing moved away from its Puget Sound base in order to retaliate against aerospace-industry unions.

“I have seen a lot of absurd things come out of this administration,” DeMint sighs. “But the absurdity here is pretty amazing. This involves the right of a company to decide where to locate its business. I cannot believe that the president has not spoken out about it. This kind of thing should not happen in America.”

“This is not about South Carolina,” DeMint notes. “This is about every American company and every state, and not just right-to-work states. This will also hurt the forced-union states. Why would a company, like BMW for example, locate in a union state if they know that they could not move or expand?”

- Hmmm: 

A smoking gun document about an error-ridden GAO report puts the murder weapon in a top Democratic senator’s hands.

GAO issued a slew of corrections in November to an undercover investigation into for-profit colleges requested by Sen. Tom Harkin, Iowa Democrat, who had unveiled the report at a hearing highly critical of the schools Aug. 4.

A internal GAO email obtained by The Daily Caller, a self-evaluation on what went wrong from a member of the team that wrote the report, suggests GAO was under the gun.

The email says GAO was put under “extreme short time frames” by Harkin to issue the report and “congressional staffers” demanded the inclusion of numerous details as it was being finalized.

“It certainly discredits the report, doesn’t it?” said Rep. Rob Andrews, New Jersey Democrat and long-time advocate for the for-profit schools, “The fact that they felt pressure to finish this on time is disquieting.”

Read the rest. Someone doesn't like for-profit colleges and is willing to distort the data to discredit them. Meanwhile, American students and parents continue to pour money into the coffers of conventional colleges and universities, often getting back
very little of value. The NYT notes that "the outlook is rather bleak" for recent, debt-laden, grads.

- William Murchison on the clumsy tyranny of "non-sexist language":

Dammit, it's not "Everybody has their book"!

It's "Everybody has his book." His! His! His! Got that?

Not many do, I confess: for which outcome the blame attaches in no small degree to Kate Swift -- may her recently departed soul rest in peace -- and her disagreeably influential books on, ahem, non-sexist writing. Swift made the dismantling of English fashionable for purposes of consciousness-raising. May the Lord show her better things at this momentous passage in her career.

I'm afraid that ship has sailed; we're now trained to timidly tiptoe around those masculine pronouns, using them only when we're sure they won't "offend." But it's good to review the history of the feminist assault on English, so read the rest.


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The nanny state, carried to the logical extreme

I linked to this video in the sidebar a while back but didn't really want to ruin anyone's day by posting it. I did wonder, what is this guy and his "mommy" living on? The answer is the obvious one. We're buying his jammies and the lumber for that super-duper custom high chair. And now Sen. Tom Coburn has taken notice:

A key senator has asked the Social Security Administration to investigate how people who live their lives role-playing as “adult babies” are able to get taxpayer-funded disability payments — after one of them was featured on a recent reality TV episode wearing diapers, feeding from a bottle and using an adult-sized crib he built.

Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican and the Senate’s top waste-watcher, asked the agency’s inspector general to look into 30-year-old Stanley Thornton Jr. and his roommate, Sandra Dias, who acts as his “mother,” saying it’s not clear why they are collecting Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits instead of working.

“Given that Mr. Thornton is able to determine what is appropriate attire and actions in public, drive himself to complete errands, design and custom-make baby furniture to support a 350-pound adult and run an Internet support group, it is possible that he has been improperly collecting disability benefits for a period of time,” Mr. Coburn wrote in a letter Monday to Inspector General Patrick P. O'Carroll Jr.

Yeah, baby.

And no, no, you can't take that away from him:

In an email response to The Washington Times, Mr. Thornton threatened to kill himself if his Social Security payments are taken away, and said the television episode showing him doing woodwork oversold his abilities.

“You wanna test how damn serious I am about leaving this world, screw with my check that pays for this apartment and food. Try it. See how serious I am. I don’t care,” the California man said. “I have no problem killing myself. Take away the last thing keeping me here, and see what happens. Next time you see me on the news, it will be me in a body bag.”

Or he'll hold his breath until he turns blue.

But this is the best part:

Mr. Coburn also questions why Miss Dias, as a former nurse, collects SSI benefits, “since she is able to provide childcare” to Mr. Thornton.

You go, Sen. Coburn!

Allahpundit:

He’d rather die than lose his entitlements, notwithstanding the fact that they’re driving a crushing debt burden that threatens to destroy the country. This makes him different from everyone else … how?

***

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***

Michelle Malkin does Junior justice. Still waiting for reaction from Mark Steyn.

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Bad guys

No gentleman:

In her remarks at the funeral — with her four brothers standing behind her on the altar at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Potomac, Md. — [Maria] Shriver said that beyond her father’s outstanding life in public service, his greatest accomplishment was the way he taught her brothers “how to treat a wife.” She stressed that the Peace Corps founder taught his sons that being “a strong man is about being a strong person, and nurturing, and how to be a gentleman, a gentle man.”

Appearing to shoot a serious glance at Schwarzenegger (seated in the front row at the service), Shriver also said her brothers had learned from their dad “how to revere and honor their wives, just as my father did,” in his 56-year marriage to her late mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

As she started her talk, Shriver said that the first thing that came to her mind when thinking of her dad was his relationship with her mother: “the way he looked at her, treated her, cared for her, looked after her, adored her and respected her.”

Hat tip to No Sheeples.

No-good father:

There's an old African proverb that says, "Who knows whose womb carries the chief?"  This simple truth has taken on a powerful meaning recently for every American paying attention.

According to recently secured documents from the Immigration and Naturalization Services, evidence has emerged that President Obama's father, Barack Obama, Sr., apparently paid to send a young Kenyan girl he had impregnated in Massachusetts to London to have an abortion.

Doing the work that investigative journalists of the mainstream media used to do, author Jack Cashill reveals that the foreign press, unlike their American counterparts, are all over the story.  Far from speculation, according to the INS documents, the high school aged girl was in Massachusetts on an exchange program when she evidently became pregnant by the 29 year old Obama.  Asian News International notes that this incident occurred prior to 1973's Roe v. Wade decision, meaning, "abortions were illegal in the U.S."

No means no: Then there's DSK, the socialist pig who allegedly attacked a maid in his $3000 hotel room. It's important to remember that he hasn't confessed to or been convicted of a crime, but Ben Stein takes things to a foolish extreme:

2.) In life, events tend to follow patterns. People who commit crimes tend to be criminals, for example. Can anyone tell me any economists who have been convicted of violent sex crimes? Can anyone tell me of any heads of nonprofit international economic entities who have ever been charged and convicted of violent sexual crimes? Is it likely that just by chance this hotel maid found the only one in this category? Maybe Mr. Strauss-Kahn is guilty but if so, he is one of a kind, and criminals are not usually one of a kind.

So? We all know that powerful men can get away with a lot. Because they're, you know, powerful. Some of them use that power to hurt and intimidate. They don't always get caught, so they aren't "criminals" by Stein's definition. This can't be news to Ben Stein.

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Diamonds are a Newt's best friend?

A man of the people:

[Callista Gingrich] listed a “revolving charge account” at Tiffany and Company in the liability section of her personal financial disclosure form for two consecutive years and indicated that it was her spouse’s debt. The liability was reported in the range of $250,001 to $500,000.

When asked by POLITICO whether Gingrich has settled this debt, and why he owed between a quarter-million and a half-million dollars to a jeweler, Rick Tyler, Gingrich’s spokesman, declined to comment.

“No comment,” he said in an email.

Jennifer Rubin has a more suspicious mind than I. I'm merely appalled at the strange way some of our would-be leaders conduct their personal business. Why would we put a guy who runs up crazy jewelry debt in charge of anything?

Take it away, Marilyn.

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Obama still believes in you!

Via WhiteHouse.gov, White House Dossier, and Doug Ross, joyful tidings -- The Obamessiah lives!

The vision that brought us together in 2008, that's undiminished in me.  The confidence I have in the American people, in their decency, that's undiminished.  My faith that we can make tough choices on behalf of future generations, that's undiminished.  My belief in you has not lessened.

Sure, we're small, insignificant, and not always 100% faithful to the One. But he still believes in us.

You've got to wonder what goes on in that mind. After a sermon like this, does he lock himself in the royal bathroom and have a hearty laugh at the faithful's expense, or does he look in the mirror and see the halo?

Very disturbing.

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Paul Ryan for President?

I wish. Jeffrey Anderson joins Jennifer Rubin in calling for Rep. Paul Ryan to run for president. I think it's a fantasy, but a very appealing one. Ryan blows Daniels's socks off:

To expand on this [Rubin's] comparison, the list of Daniels’s advantages over Ryan begins and ends with this: He has executive experience (something that tenure in the Senate wouldn’t change for Ryan). Here are just a few of Ryan’s advantages over Daniels: He’s more charismatic and personally appealing; he’s a better debater and has already successfully squared off against Obama on the budget and on Obamacare; he hasn’t called for a “social truce”; he has more interest and expertise in foreign policy (governors have far less to do with foreign policy than congressmen do, and Daniels seems to have less interest in foreign policy than most governors); he’s been a leader in the ongoing fights in Washington about the future direction of the country; he wasn’t Bush’s budget director; he’s young and dynamic; and he’s not afraid to criticize the president in strong, yet civil, language; and he (perhaps alone) can unite the party’s establishment and Tea Party — and social, economic, and defense — wings.

Ryan's reasons for not running do him credit, too:

When asked about running for president, Ryan likes to say that his head isn’t that big, and his kids are too small. 

An ego that measures somewhere in the normal range would be another point in his favor. Anderson presses his case:

But our nation’s problems are too big, and our window of opportunity is too small.  We need him to run — and not for the Senate. Ryan is too gifted, and this is his time. Duty calls.

I agree, the need is urgent. And Ryan can really articulate the issues:

And if I could sum up that disagreement in a couple of sentences, I would say this: Our plan is to give seniors the power to deny business to inefficient providers. Their plan is to give government the power to deny care to seniors.

 … That’s the real class warfare that threatens us — a class of governing elites picking winners and losers, and determining our destinies for us.

Ryan looks awfully appealing when compared with Romney, the corporatist candidate, heir-apparent to the nomination, fundraiser extraordinaire, and  antithesis of a Tea Party candidate.

Maybe Newt Gingrich's bizarre, self-destructive attack on Ryan's ideas wasn't so misplaced after all? Did he instinctively zero in on his strongest rival?

While we're fantasizing, imagine the smart, articulate Ryan up against Obama in a debate. One would be armed with ad hominem attacks, distortions, and vague slogans, the other with a keen grasp of the nature of the crises we're facing, from the details to the big picture.

Related post from yesterday: Gingrich vs. Ryan: No contest

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Another post by Jen Rubin on a Ryan candidacy:

It is telling I think that Newt Gingrich blew up his presidential campaign criticizing Ryan. Republicans rallied to Ryan’s side and fired a barrage of criticism at Gingrich. This has as much to do with Gingrich’s intellectual instability as it does with Ryan’s new stature as the ideas man of the GOP. (Perhaps Gingrich’s blast can be explained as envy, for that is a role Gingrich once held.) That Republicans of all stripes understand that Ryan Republicanism — reform-minded, intellectually rigorous, pro-free markets and temperamentally cordial — is the wave of the future.

Ryan can make his decision this summer. But turning down a pointless Senate run is the first step toward that potential run.

RTR.

Linked by Michelle Malkin and Doug Ross -- many thanks.

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Friedman, in the pits

Someone else can critique Thomas Friedman's content; I'm reaching for the red pen this morning. Poor Mr. Friedman seems to have swallowed something he shouldn't have and it's giving him a tummy ache:

Watching the Arab uprisings these days leaves me with a smile on my face and a pit in my stomach. The smile comes from witnessing a whole swath of humanity losing its fear and regaining its dignity. The pit comes from a rising worry that the Arab Spring may have been both inevitable and too late. If you are not feeling both these impulses, you’re not paying attention. 

And you're not paying attention to your usage, Mr. Friedman. The correct expression refers not to an ingested foreign object causing gastric distress, but to a bad feeling "in the pit of one's stomach." Paul Brians:

Just as you can love someone from the bottom of your heart, you can also experience a sensation of dread in the pit (bottom) of your stomach. I don’t know whether people who mangle this common expression into “pit in my stomach” envision an ulcer, an irritating peach pit they’ve swallowed or are thinking of the pyloric sphincter; but they’ve got it wrong.

Mangling common expressions isn't unusual. We've all done it. Many moons ago when I taught freshman comp for a couple of semesters, I came across some entertaining errors in students' papers, among them "far and in between" instead of "few and far between." Good try, and poetic, in a way. But readers expect a bit more from three-time Pulitzer winners.

(Paul Brians' Common Errors in English Usage is a highly recommended resource.)


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Gingrich vs Ryan: No contest

It's not as though I had any use for Newt Gingrich as president to begin with, but these statements, as reported by Andrew Stiles, will reinforce the widespread belief among conservatives that he's the wrong man for the job. He need not agree with all the specifics of Rep. Paul Ryan's plan, but any viable GOP candidate needs to hold and convey a genuine sense of urgency regarding the country's dire fiscal straits. Newt doesn't seem to get it: 

The former speaker had some harsh words for Paul Ryan’s (and by extension, nearly every House Republican’s) plan to reform Medicare, calling it “radical.”

“I don’t think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering,” he said when asked about Ryan’s plan to transition to a “premium support” model for Medicare. “I don’t think imposing radical change from the right or the left is a very good way for a free society to operate.”

"Radical change" when you're headed for the cliff's edge is not only "desirable," but imperative. What Gingrich is arguing for is more or less the status quo. Stiles:

As far as an alternative, Gingrich trotted out the same appeal employed by Obama/Reid/Pelosi — for a “national conversation” on how to “improve” Medicare, and promised to eliminate ‘waste, fraud and abuse,’ etc.

And that individual mandate isn't so bad, either, says Newt. Allahpundit can't figure out what he thinks he's doing, but predicts it will hurt:

I just hope he’s prepared for the relentless beating he’ll rightly take in conservative media for kneecapping Ryan at a moment when deficit hawks are frantic to move national opinion on entitlement reform via a unified party message. He’s handed the left a campaign commercial here and they’re already using it.

One commenter at HotAir: "Go away newt." Someone else wonders if he's got a screw loose. I think he's just in love with his own ideas. His fertile mind hatches dozens a day, and some fraction of them are good. But his attacks on the Ryan plan, which he was for before he was against, are making him even more extraneous to the 2012 race. And last time I checked, Ryan isn't one of his opponents.

What Steyn said about Newt:

Newt isn’t going to be president and I assume he’s in this campaign for the kind of reason Alan Keyes used to get into it 10 years ago – that it’s a way of boosting his speaking fees and other gigs. But Newt Gingrich is not going to be president and I don’t see the rationale for his candidacy.

Right. There isn't one, and Gingrich just proved it.

Paul Ryan's spokesman responds (emphasis added):

“The solutions offered by Chairman Ryan and advanced by House Republicans make no changes to Medicare for those in and near retirement, while offering a strengthened, personalized program that future generations can count on when they retire,” Sweeney says. “Far from claims of radicalism, the gradual, common-sense Medicare reforms ensure that no senior will be forced to reorganize their lives because of government’s mistakes. The most ‘radical’ course of action on Medicare is continue to cling to the unsustainable status quo.”

“Serious leaders,” he adds, without naming names, “owe seniors specific solutions to avert Medicare’s looming collapse.”

According to Ryan, the choice is between Obama's (and apparently, Gingrich's) vision of "shared scarcity" vs. Ryan's plan to achieve "renewed prosperity":

We believe the president is articulating a vision which I would call shared scarcity. I believe the president’s economic vision and the speeches that he has been giving pit people against each other, play class warfare and envy economics. I think it’s a really a vision of shared scarcity and bringing America to a period of managed decline and economic stagnation.

We are pushing a vision of renewed prosperity. Our budget puts the budget on a path to balance and our economy on a path to prosperity and so, anything but. We are pressing ahead because we sincerely believe that our budget — which fulfills the mission of health and retirement security, repairs the rifts in our social safety net and pays off our debt and grows the economy — is the right vision.

Read Ryan's Chicago Tribune opinion piece here.

Jen Rubin: Ryan for President:

In truth, a presidential run makes a lot more sense for Ryan than does a Senate race. Ryan is already the de facto leader of the Republican Party on the most critical issues of the day. If he’s concerned about spending time with his family, what better way and better time (when they are little and not distressed teenagers thrown into the national spotlight) to bond with them than a family ad­ven­ture seeing America followed by a job where dad could work from home? While there are many potential candidates for the Wisconsin Senate seat, who among the current presidential contenders is really up to winning and then governing? A new poll shows a plurality of GOP voters don't think any of them is. (“Some 45 percent now say they’re dissatisfied with the GOP candidates who have declared or are thought to be serious about running, up from 33 percent two months ago, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. Just 41 percent are satisfied with the likely Republican field, down from 52 percent.”)

One Senate seat is not vital to the republic, but Ryan himself has made the case how critical it is to address our looming debt crisis now. Without the White House and without someone exceptionally capable to advocate for it, it’s hard to see how the “The Path to Prosperity” is ever going to be enacted. I’m at a loss to think of another Republican who can bring together Tea Partyers, wonks, social conservatives, hawks, libertarians, Wall Street and Main Street Republicans and connect with a new generation of Republicans.

She makes is sound so easy:

In a very practical sense, the question for Ryan is: Why not give his party and the country six months (September 2011 to February 2012)? By then he’ll either have failed to catch fire or he’ll have a clear path to the presidential nomination. Six months. Twenty-four weeks. For a politician constantly at work in Congress, in town halls and in media appearances, that doesn’t sound like that much. (In fact, I would venture that his schedule is more rigorous now than the average presidential contender’s.)

You see, there is no good reason for Ryan to avoid a presidential run. Sometimes, if you don’t see the opening and seize it, a better one never comes along. Bill Clinton understood this in 1992.

There is a lot of buzz that Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) may finally throw his hat into the ring. Ryan and his staff may think, “Well Mitch can do it, we don’t have to.” Whatever you think of Daniels, he’s no Paul Ryan. Candidates aren’t interchangeable, least of all these two.

That's for sure. I could get excited about a Ryan candidacy but I think it's a pipe dream. Daniels? Blech. One more chunk of Rubin's piece, in which she sums up the Daniels' negatives:

It’s apparent that Daniels (most recently in suggesting he’d take the pro-choice, anti-Iraq surge, pro-North Korea engagement, pro-2006 Palestinian election, Condi Rice as a vice presidential choice) is hobbled, at the very least, by a tin ear and lack of sympatico with the GOP base. Daniels is older than Ryan (hence less attractive to young voters and less able to paint Obama as old-hat, the defender of the status quo) and less acceptable to hard-core conservatives. If he’s serious about cutting defense and pulling back from America’s commitments in the world, Daniels will (in a way the internationalist, pro-defense Ryan would not) take the party and potentially the country down a dangerous road. Daniels has already expressed a willingness to consider tax hikes; Ryan has ruled them out.

Daniels vs Ryan, also no contest.

Linked at Michelle Malkin and CMR -- thank you.

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Many thanks, also, to Larwyn for today's headlining link!

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Follow-up: Paul Ryan for President?

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