What else could you possibly want? Well, maybe beer and beautiful women, but we have them, too! Pay attention!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
VIDEO: 'What Liberal Women Don't Get About Liberal Men'
Sunday, June 26, 2011
'I am a Democrat because I believe that government should take care of its citizens...'
Check the homely one at about 55 seconds.
I was once a Democrat. It hasn't been that long ago since the party turned neo-communist, but back in the day my sense was that government would promote equality of opportunity. It's shocking to me that young people have learned somewhere that it's the government's job to take care of them. These are the same type of people who argue that the Constitution's preamble, which calls in part to "promote the general welfare," actually means that government would establish a welfare dependency state. It's kind of astonishing. "Welfare" simply means "well-being." But in the minds of the progressives, "welfare" means government handouts, kind of like Peggy Joseph who swooned when Obama was elected, saying how he was going to pay her gas and mortgage. I write about America's relative standing in the world, the balance of power, and so forth, which is more in the realm of international relations. But nation-states can rot from within, from decadence and sloth, and when I see these young people here, most of whom can't speak intelligibly, well, I'm going to have to adjust my theories a bit. Sheesh.
In any case, Robert Stacy McCain has a different takeaway, "Good News: College Democrats Succeed in Recruiting Stupid Ugly Losers! (Video)." And yeah, there's that alright.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
New York Legalizes Gay Marriage
At Los Angeles Times, "New York Legislature passes gay marriage bill."
With the forceful backing of a newly elected Democratic governor, the New York State Legislature gave final approval late Friday to a bill permitting same-sex marriage, enabling gay couples to head for the altar in late July.The amazing thing is how anti-climactic this is.
After a sometimes emotional hourlong debate, the 62-member, Republican-controlled Senate approved the measure, 33 to 29. Earlier in the evening, the Democratic-led Assembly had amended its version of the bill to match the Senate's, which carried additional exemptions for religious organizations that do not want to acknowledge or extend benefits to gays who marry.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who made the issue a centerpiece of his election campaign last year, signed the bill just before midnight. It will take effect in 30 days, making New York the sixth state, and the most populous by far, to permit same-sex marriage.
"What this state did today brings marriage equality to a new plane," Cuomo told reporters. "We reached a new level of social justice." Outside the Senate chamber, many opponents sat on the floor and prayed aloud for the state.
Gay marriage is coming to America, but it's not coming through a wave of popular, down-home demand. It's coming through the ram-it-down-your-throats progressive politics on the coasts, and the Berkeley-esque enclaves in the major urban areas across the heartland. If there was ever a case for letting federalism prevail, this is it. States should be free to decide their own policies on same-sex marriage. The Blankenhorn and Rauch manifesto is workable, and vital in preventing a progressive tyranny at the federal level from crushing the states. See: "A Reconciliation on Gay Marriage." And the progressive sensationalism on this is deeply offensive, for example, "The arc of history bends towards justice in N.Y." Actually, gay marriage is not a civil right. Gay Americans are not an oppressed minority, but one of the most affluent and powerful interest groups in American politics. That's why a federal solution to the gay marriage issue remains vital. The gay radical lobby will browbeat kind and reasonable Americans, folks who don't want to put up with the fuss of being hammered over the head or dragged before Stalinist show trials. It's pretty bad, but it's the way things are going around here.
Image Credit: Good as You, "Photo: Stonewall. Right now. 42 years later" (via Memeorandum).
RELATED: Rim-station radicals celebrate in New York.Saturday, June 18, 2011
David Protess of the Innocence Project Now Defends Himself
A key passage:
It is often said that academic politics are so vicious because the stakes are so low, but in the matter of Mr. Protess and the wrongly convicted men he helped to free, the stakes could not have been higher.I know something about academic politics and high stakes. A few days back I mentioned that I'd have a report on some of the bloggers at Lawyers, Guns and Money, and not Dave Brockington (about which, here). I'm still waiting, because attorneys are involved, but this is going to be blockbuster when I can write about it.
Anyway, I don't know anything about David Protess, but I can see that he developed some powerful enemies in his work, people who want to destroy him. Again, I know the feeling, although I haven't gotten anyone released from death row. But some people have been extremely threatened by the things that I write here, and allegations and high-level threats have been made. I'm not kidding when I say high level. Seriously. Readers are going to be blown away when this comes out.
Stay tuned.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Tim Pawlenty Gets Glittered in San Francisco
At The Hill, "Pawlenty gets 'glittered' at San Francisco speech."Also, at ABC News, "Glitter Bandits Strike Pawlenty." (Via Memeorandum.)
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
New Ruling Upholds Proposition 8
I wasn't surprised at all. And ICYMI, yesterday's New York Times had a good piece on the road ahead for gay marriage, "Same-Sex Vote Unlikely in California":
Regardless of how the lower courts rule, most legal analysts believe the Boies-Olson case will eventually be decided by the United States Supreme Court. No one seems to want anything to happen outside the courtroom to prejudice judges at any level.Seems weird how long ago it's been. Polls have shifted a bit toward gay marriage, but not that much. Politics will still matter, a lot.
“We’re right at the cusp, and it is the conventional wisdom that we can’t go to the ballot to repeal and lose,” said Kate Kendell, the executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco. She said an electoral loss could “create a very toxic environment” for same-sex marriage and “send a message that might chill an otherwise more compassionate court.”
Evan Wolfson, the president of Freedom to Marry, another rights group, echoed that statement, saying the federal case has been a “tremendous boost to public understanding about how the denial of marriage really harms families,” but it’s also had a chilling effect on a California ballot push. “While the case is pending, it has made it harder to mobilize the volunteers and money and energy,” he said. “That’s really been the good and bad of it.”
In addition to the potential impact on the federal case, some worry that a 2012 ballot campaign could also galvanize conservative groups in a presidential election year, and bring more Republican voters to the polls in California in a year when initiatives on issues like immigrant rights and the death penalty may make the state’s ballot.
But the wait-and-see decision will no doubt displease some who feel that the voter-approved ban on gay marriage — in a year in which President Obama was elected — was a low-water mark in the gay rights movement.
Why Are Male Bloggers Pretending to Be Lesbians?
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
How Many Male 'Lesbian' Bloggers Are Out There?
At Washington Post, "‘Paula Brooks,’ editor of ‘Lez Get Real,’ also a man."
And don't miss Jonah Golberg, "The 'Gay Girl in Damascus' hoax is worse than a lie. It's propaganda" (via Instapundit).
Saturday, June 11, 2011
'State of Emergency' Rally, Los Angeles, May 13, 2011
Anyway, Ringo was there, with an awesome photo-essay: "L.A. Teachers Unions "State of Emergency" Rally - Los Angeles, CA 5/13/2011."
And Reason.tv always features killer reports:
Anthony Weiner to Enter Treatment Center!
But still, this ain't over until he sucks it up and announces his resignation.
At New York Times, "Weiner to Enter Treatment Center and Seek Leave From House." And Memeorandum.
Nancy Pelosi Calls for Weiner's Resignation!
Three weighty Democratic voices -- including Nancy Pelosi -- on Saturday called for the resignation of embattled U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, who has been under fire after admitting to inapporpriate communications with women online.Via JammieWearingFool, "The End is Near: Pelosi Calls for Weiner's Resignation."
The House Minority Leader, and the chairmen of the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in separate statements called for Weiner to step down.
The New York congressman has resisted calls to resign.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Calls for Anthony Weiner to Resign
And see New York Times, "Weiner Faces Calls to Resign and Tries to Make Amends" (via Memeorandum):
Representative Anthony D. Weiner of New York, reeling from revelations of salacious online behavior that threaten his political career, moved rapidly on Tuesday to make amends as Republicans called for his resignation and leading members of his own Democratic Party distanced themselves from him.RTWT. Bill and Hillary Clinton are said to be deeply upset by this (wonders never cease, I know). I'm personally surprised he's held out this long. I expected his resignation at the time of the press conference.
Mr. Weiner spent much of the past 24 hours apologizing over and over to stunned Congressional colleagues and Democratic leaders angry at him for misleading them and the public. Even neighboring House Democrats seemed shaken, with many of them worrying that worse disclosures may still surface.
During a tense telephone call with Mr. Weiner, during which he apologized, Representative Nydia M. Velázquez of Brooklyn scolded him, as she recalled: “How can you explain that somebody can be so smart but so stupid?”
Asked if Mr. Weiner should resign, she replied, “The most important thing in this business is credibility.”
Signs of a redrawn political reality quickly emerged for Mr. Weiner, once considered a top contender to become mayor of New York. His campaign donors said they were especially shocked and furious because a week ago the congressman attributed his online travails to a “vast right-wing conspiracy,” a contributor who spoke with him said.
“Everything is going to be fine,” Mr. Weiner said, according to the contributor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the uncertainty surrounding the congressman’s future.
But Mr. Weiner’s problems have only intensified as new and more embarrassing details of his online relationships emerged. After adamantly proclaiming for a week that he had been the victim of a hacker, Mr. Weiner admitted during a tearful news conference on Monday that he had sent suggestive photographs and messages to at least six women and had repeatedly lied to cover up his actions.
Amanda Marcotte's #Weinergate Embarrassment
Life is a big joke and Ms. Marcotte is the punchline, so that all we need do is to say, “Hey, go read what this idiot wrote,” and everyone will see for themselves why she is so transparently absurd.RTWT. It's a long exegesis of Amanda Marcotte's utter depravity. She's got some kinda record. Wow. Even Jill Stanek piles on: "Liberal Feminists Blow Off Weiner Sex Scandal." (And linked there is Jessica Dweck at Slate, "The Case for Tolerating Left-Wing Lotharios.")
Yet Amanda Marcotte is taken seriously by influential people, who pay her to preach to the rest of us, and it would be wrong to dismiss her without at least attempting a serious analysis of her errors. It may be true of Ms. Marcotte, as Mary McCarthy said of Lillian Hellman, that every word she writes is a lie, including “and” and “the.” But exactly why and how her writing is so pervasively false requires further explanation.
Note how Ms. Marcotte deploys “ideologue” as an epithet against Breitbart when she is herself an avowed adherent of the ideology of feminism. Indeed, if it weren’t for her idolatrous devotion to feminism, Ms. Marcotte would have nothing to write about. Her entire raison d’être as a writer is to filter the world through a feminist lens.
She is one of those writers who, despairing of achieving notoriety in the larger literary world, seeks a readership in some ghetto niche occupied almost entirely by third-rate talents, so that her occasional second-rate contributions appear conspicuously impressive by comparison. And in her feminist niche, the only standard by which anyone may be judged is according to their zealous devotion to The Sacred Cause:Weiner has an outstanding record supporting sexual rights of others, with100% ratings from NARAL and Planned Parenthood, and has a strong record of support for gay rights.See? He votes the right way. And isn’t that what really matters?
My interest wavers on radical feminism, because it's so complicated, frankly (radical feminists can be found on the left and right, although those on the latter side deny it). But considering all that's happened of late, I should probably have more on this in upcoming posts shortly.
Photo Credit: Flickr.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Charles Johnson Won't Apologize for Smearing Andrew Breitbart
Take a minute and send your thoughts to the Lizard Man, via Twitter.
Plus, Glenn Reynolds has more.And C.J.'s response is available through Google, if you're interested. He's all about science and facts and stuff. Except when he's not.