The Escape Hatch

I must admit I'm forcing myself to write today. It's so nice outside, too nice to think about politics. I've been spending a lot of time lately watching TV from other countries thanks to the internet. Most of it doesn't look like, but does FEEL, like this:



I recommend the Russian MTV to you - those guys may be freezing in abject poverty, but they know how to corral all their good looking yunguns into one place and put a camera on 'em.

So yeah, escapism in it's most extreme form. I also spent Saturday night at a Hollywood red-carpet party celebrating the Burbank Film Festival. The raven-haired one on the end is named Minna and I'll send her the pictures as SOON AS SHE GIVES ME AN EMAIL ADDRESS.

The highlight of the party for me was getting pigeonholed by this attractive, kinda-drunk Scottish nanny who kept explaining that she didn't do it for the money, but for the r-r-r-rewar-r-rd of shaping young lives. "I believe the children are the future," I told her, and she was drunk enough to totally buy it.

Anyway, this is also escapism, parties like this. And why not escape. Is anyone really excited about the coming elections? No. The best you can say is that people are hyper-annoyed that people they don't agree with are also running. For Republicans the choice is betwen Obama and the second most-hated man in politics, Romney. No one is running for anything, they're running against things which they will label as far worse. 2012 will be a dreary as anything you've seen in your lifetime. I understand the film festival is throwing another party in the summer. Man, I'm totally there.

A Loss Of Identity

Lament for me! I was jogging Sunday afternoon in Long Beach and somehow along the way, my wallet fell out of my pocket. I didn't notice until I got back to my girlfriend's place and by then, tracing our route was impossible let alone finding a black leather square on the sidewalk. And believe me, I tried.

I managed to drive the 45 miles back to my place without being stopped but dear God! How would I live? I had half a tank of gas and a refrigerator full of groceries, but no cash, no debit or credit cards and no driver's license. What's worse I had a doctor's appointment coming up on Tuesday. I couldn't give them my medical ID number and I couldn't provide my co-pay. I was doomed to slowly starve to death without medical attention. I had become a non-person.

Turns out, it's not that big a deal. I took the logical first step of making sure the wallet hadn't been turned in to the Long Beach PD, and once that was determined I set to work canceling all the credit cards that I could remember I had. Most of them I could access online; none had been used since the last time I'd whipped them out.

Then it was off to the bank to get a new debit card. I was worried about the lack of ID but as it happens, I do have a passport lying around because I was in London a couple of years back. By 3pm I had cash, a debit card and and identity. The rest is just waiting for the other cards to come in the mail, and updating all the places I have automatic payments for. Oh and buying a new wallet.

Which I can do now.

The Headline From Outer Space

LIBERALS PUSH SOCIALISM IN OUTER SPACE

The article is about how corporations will have little or no trouble in their plan to mine asteroids for minerals.

"I Lose Time"

Sometimes people on the Right seem a little deranged - they blame Obama for the excessive TSA airport screenings, or for TARP, or for not closing Gitmo like he promised, because Gitmo is such a terrible thing. Here's Mitt Romney blaming a factory closing on Obama even though it closed a month before he took office.

The thing the rest of us need to understand is that most Republicans cannot remember that there was a President who served between Clinton and Obama. Last week I got into a Facebook comment fight with Warner Todd Huston and his minions (let me jealously add that I don't have minions, and probably never will) where the premise was that Obama was the "worst president ever" and I said what about Bush? and one of the minions said "you guys are always bringing up the past." Personally I find it hard to argue a worst ever argument without bringing up the past, but I suppose it's possible? Somehow?

Anyway, modern republicans are on the wrong side of history. More than one said that in 50 years time he will be considered one of the best Presidents we've ever had. And yes I tried to look up that quote but it appears to have been scrubbed from the internet. Collective amnesia!

Even Wonkette Says Lay Off Candidate's Faith

And I'm with 'em 100%.

Well No Wonder Cantor is Uncomfortable!

Official liason between the one true God and the Republican party further explains why those Jews are such a problem.

Nixon Wouldn't Have Liked Cantor

You know how I frequently point out that people who insist that America is a Christian Nation are probably not really down with the Jews? Like they'd really rather they were Christians? They're not as bad a the Muslims, but they really aren't Americans either? I think maybe Eric Cantor is having a little trouble along those lines too.

America's Hardest-Workin' Mom

As depicted on a birthday cake courtesy of America's most beloved executive, Donald Trump.

The Romneys! THEY'RE JUST LIKE US!

Humor, the Right-Wing Way

Now and then the left is mystified by talking points that come out of the right, because they seem hypersensitive or wierd and you couldn't have imagined anybody would actually think that way. Since so many of the leaders of the Conservative Movement are not really leaders, but ENTERTAINERS, you might confuse these things for stuff they really feel. Remember, James O'Keefe and Rush Limbaugh and (I Hope) Glenn Beck are trying to be funny. They're not really outraged, they're poking fun at liberal outrage. Nothing they say is actually meant to be a real point, and anyone who thinks otherwise is just being stupid.

As an example, Jim Treacher:

Can you name the author of this quote?

“With Lolo, I learned how to eat small green chill peppers raw with dinner (plenty of rice), and, away from the dinner table, I was introduced to dog meat (tough), snake meat (tougher), and roasted grasshopper (crunchy). Like many Indonesians, Lolo followed a brand of Islam that could make room for the remnants of more ancient animist and Hindu faiths. He explained that a man took on the powers of whatever he ate: One day soon, he promised, he would bring home a piece of tiger meat for us to share.”

Give up? That’s Barack Obama, writing about his childhood with his stepfather Lolo Soetoro in Indonesia, from Chapter Two of his bestseller Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.

“So what? It was a long time ago,” you say. “He was a lot younger. Customs are different there. He was just doing what his stepfather told him. And hey, you can’t even prove that the dogs were ever left on top of a car, you racist.”

Hey, whatever you have to tell yourself, libs. Say what you want about Romney, but at least he only put a dog on the roof of his car, not the roof of his mouth. And whenever you bring up the one, we’re going to bring up the other.

It’s no fun when we push back, is it? That’s why it’s so much fun.

Ho ho, you got us Jim! He's just making fun of the way people are making an issue out of ignoring the terror of a live animal for twelve hours. Why wouldn't you want a guy like that for president? What's wrong with you people! So he's turning it around, get it? Because being made to do something bad when you were a child is no different than being an adult with a family and choosing to do it.

Republicans are actually almost never outraged by anything. They don't mind most government malfeasance (unless Democrats do it) and they don't really care about attacks on women. I mean, they spent the better part of last week destroying Hillary Rosen. What does enrage them is when people say unkind things about RICH WOMEN. Well, just Ann Romney or Sarah Palin. Then their blood boils and no amount of apologizing can get them to calm down.

Romney Used to Agree With Rosen, Back In January

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I bet he caught hell from the little woman after this campaign stop!

Quotes Of A Couple Of Days

“There are a lot of things that haven’t been hammered at because Rick and Mitt have been going at each other. Now that they have trained their barrels on President Obama, I hope his teleprompters are bullet-proof.”

Foster Friess, yesterday on MSNBC

"With my inappropriate off-the-cuff ad lib just now about "bulletproof teleprompters," it's obvious I should be using teleprompters****

Foster Friess, today on Twitter

The Mysterious Harvard Years

This is a talking point I don't think I addressed yet, about the President's years at Harvard. A conservative Facebook friend (who actually is an acquaintance of mine, an entrepreneur whom I admire) brought up the frequently worked over theory that Obama was a mediocre student at Harvard, who only got in because of affirmative action and was made editor of the Harvard Law Review for the same reason.

I suggested that this seemed awfully implausible to me. It's one thing to admit a mediocre student to Harvard, but another to threaten your brand by elevating the kid to the head of the most prestigious law publication in the country. After a bit my conservative friend admitted I may be right, and he offered up the following clip as evidence.



Probably the best thing about this clip, which is from a Frontline documentary which aired before the election, is that it belies the idea that somehow, there is no record of Obama's college years. People went on record here gladly to talk about him; the Harvard Law Review is available for free perusal in libraries everywhere. The people in this clip are from the left, and the right, and in between.

I suppose you could also consult the President's 2 autobiographies for further information.

There is no conspiracy. If World Net Daily readers can't find any info about Obama's earlier years, they might consider checking out sources that aren't World Net Daily.

Anyway, I'm pleased that Xxxx Xxxxxxx came around (name redacted because I fear for his safety, even in Southern California) has come around on this point. It's certainly not a compelling argument to vote for Obama, but all I'm asking for is some non-crazy debate on the issue.

Fox News In The Tank For Romney

Newt Gingrich is certain that Fox News looooooooooves Mitt Romney.

I think FOX has been for Romney all the way through,” Gingrich said during the private meeting — to which RealClearPolitics was granted access — at Wesley College. “In our experience, Callista and I both believe CNN is less biased than FOX this year. We are more likely to get neutral coverage out of CNN than we are of FOX, and we’re more likely to get distortion out of FOX. That’s just a fact.” [...]

I don't know where to begin with this! Oh yes I do.

Of course, that was then, this is now. NOW they've always been for Romney.

World Net Daily Makes a Startling Admission

Editor’s note: In 2008, WND thoroughly vetted President Obama’s radical background. Many of those original exclusive reports, almost entirely ignored by the establishment news media, currently are being utilized four years later by some media outlets in the lead up to this year’s presidential election. From now until election day, WND will present its original investigations into Obama and his radical ties with bonus updates. These reports are as important today as they were in 2008.

Italics mine. They are indeed, sir!

Oh, I just noticed! To help you place WND, ideologically, here's a screen grab from the page I just quoted.

CAN YOU NOT SEE IT? THEY CALLED ME MAD AT THE UNIVERSITY, BUT I'LL SHOW THEM! I'LL SHOW THEM ALL!

Lam's Kin **UPDATED**

George Zimmerman, who is completely innocent and law-abiding and has nothing to hide, is missing somehow. Maybe he was snatched by suspicious youths! In any event, I hope he can still access his donated legal-fund money, because police motivated by nothing other than a desire to unfairly persecute a white man are considering charging him with a crime.

 There's not even any proof that he shot anybody, aside from his admission that he shot somebody!

**UPDATE, 18:38 PST** ZIMMERMAN IS IN CUSTODY! Except on the Fox News website, where he is still at large. What's up with those guys?

Alan West, Protector of Communists

Lookie here! Alan West has heard there are 80 communists in Congress! However, he refuses to name them despite repeated questioning. WHY ARE YOU PROTECTING COMMUNISTS, ALAN WEST? He won't even say where he got the information, though I hear Al Quaeda keeps tabs on that sort of thing.

All Hope Is Lost, Almost

Ladies and Gentlemen, your next President of the United States is apparently Newt Gingrich.

Lying quote of the day:

“I am committed to staying in this race all the way to Tampa so that the conservative movement has a real choice. I humbly ask Senator Santorum’s supporters to visit Newt.org to review my conservative record and join us as we bring these values to Tampa.

Italics mine, because the notion of Gingrich doing anything humbly is... well, let's call it implausible. For example I know he claims to worship God but honestly, can you imagine him being so nice to a rival?

Call And Response

I can't slap down all the talking points myself. Look, a screen grab from WAMK's blog. I'm picking on him lately because, you know, why kick Mitt when he's down? Anyway:

The talking point here, of course, is that the lamestream media is hunting down George Zimmerman by, I guess, accusing him of shooting down an unarmed kid and getting away with it.

Still, it's a shame Jewell is dead because if he was alive, he would totally love to talk to the media.

Great Socialists of the Recent Past

Don't listen to the older one! He's anti-American!

Quote of the Day - Fully Precedented Edition

Hey WAMK: You voted for him!

"What the Supreme Court did is a combination of arrogance, naivete and stupidity the likes of which I have never seen. ...I promise you, there will be huge scandals because there's too much money washing around, too much of it we don't know who's behind it and too much corruption associated with that kind of money."

John McCain, discussing the potential upcoming Supreme Court case revisiting Citizens United. Will this upset the balance of power? Should people in office refrain from discussing Supreme Court business? Inviting your comments.

Fair 'n' Balanced

Only Fox News has the courage to present a bunch of Nazis, in uniforms, armed, as a civil rights group and not feel obligated to maybe interview someone with an anti-nazi viewpoint. Well, maybe they couldn't find anyone. In FLORIDA.



In honor of this kind of thinking, you'll note that I have subtly altered Fox News' trademark slogan in my title. Because after all, all their reporting would include the N-word if they could.

Finally, One Man Sees The Canadian Menace

Expect to see I Stand With Stevens signs by the end of next week, because some far left liberal media rags are going to be calling this legislator crazy.

Pressed for how a new stretch of highway was part of a one-hemisphere government, Stevens said the evidence is all around, starting with the House, on a voice vote, adopting a resolution urging the U.S. Department of Transportation to designate U.S. 93 between Phoenix and Las Vegas, much of which is now two lanes, "as a future Interstate System route and as part of the proposed Interstate 11."

And then there's the Amero.

"That's been floated out there, too," Stevens said.

"Is it a doable thing? Probably not," he continued. "But is it useful information? I think it is."

The Amero is a multi-national form of currency which Obama will put in place once we open the border with Mexico. Phoenix is isolated from international commerce now, and Stevens wants it to stay that way! What's wrong with you people? CAN YOU NOT SEE THE DANGER? As Stevens proudly says, "I am a member of the United States of America. I do not want to be a member of a North American country."

Brokered convention! Brokered convention! Stevens for President!

Quote of The Day; Why So Socialist? Edition

"It looks like Romney will be the nominee, and I am fine with that"

- WAMK, who has decided that even a socialist would be a better president than Obama. And also, he doesn't mind that his party is actively putting a socialist in the White House.

Good Luck, Mitt - Duck!

An auditoriumful of people, enraged that you are the Republican nominee. It's a likely scenario this year in Florida.

Hoping to head off violent protesters during the Republican National Convention, Mayor Bob Buckhorn has proposed a litany of items that will be considered security threats during the week-long event.

The list runs from air pistols to water pistols and also includes items such as masks, plastic or metal pipe and string more than six inches long.

Conspicuously absent from the list of potential weapons: Firearms.

That's because state law bans local governments from placing any restrictions on the carrying of guns in public spaces.

"If we'd tried to regulate guns, it wouldn't have worked," said City Attorney Jim Shimberg.

Guns will be banned from the security zone the Secret Service will set up around the convention site, Shimberg said.

But outside that perimeter, in the area Buckhorn as labeled "the clean zone," state gun laws will prevail.

State law bans civilians from openly carrying handguns. But anyone – even protesters banned by the proposed city ordinance from wielding a piece of wood larger than a ruler – may carry a concealed handgun if they're licensed to do so.

So hey, good news - a brokered convention may not exactly be necessary if you know what I mean. If you have been wondering why Rick Santorum has been making noises about being willing to be the VP to Romney, I think that might be making a little more sense now.