Ever More Popular...

As the uninformed electorate understands the health bill it will become more popular, or so Barack Obama explained.  Of course, all he has is the bully pulpit of the White House and the legacy media in his pocket, so he can't compete with Sarah's Facebook pages.

Meanwhile, the Dem candidate for the Senate seat in West Virginia wants to repeal "the things that are bad" in the health care bill. 

Maybe the bill's popularity will increase after the election.

Comments

[Joan of Argghh!]

Because that has worked so well with the Stimulus Bill.

[Thomas Collins]

So Manchin wants to repeal the things in ObamaCare that make you go "Hmmmmmm". I've got the perfect song for the partial repeal movement. See LUN.

Now I've got to find a song for the complete repeal movement.

[Captain Hate]

Stumblebum Odumbass never provided any evidence that he understood what was in the bill during all the shill sessions for it. He continually came off as a seventh grader that hadn't done his homework.

[bgates]

WE THE EDITORS are cognizant of our role as the intellectual and moral leaders of West Virginia. Never is that role more important than when we extend our assistance to the electorate by providing guidance in comparing candidates for high office. Fortunately, the leading candidate in the biggest race in the state, the Democratic candidate for Senate, has made our job easy by his bold decision to favor "repealing the things that are bad". This statesmanlike stance draws a clear contrast to the Republican, who presumably wants to repeal things that are good.

To cut through the flowery language of intellectuals for the benefit of our readers, we must point out that "repeal" basically means "stop". So the Democrat wants to stop things that are bad. If you, dear voter, want to continue bad things, we suppose you can vote for some other candidate; but our considered opinion is that the Democrat and his anti-bad, pro-good philosophy will, must, and should carry the day.

[daddy the "Extremist"]

Forgot to mention that at the wedding last week, I found out my very Lib big Govt Obama supporting very close relative has been let go by the huge Hospital where said relative worked for years as a big Bureaucratic Administrator who frequently went to Capitol Hill for seminars, fund raising etc.

The bloom was off the rose. Was very disappointed with Obama and did not wish to discuss it, which I deferred to, wishing to maintain good relations etc. Now said relative is simply grasping at straws pondering what to do as a career change. Said relative was completely disgusted and disenchanted with the Health Care Industry and wanted to get away from it.

To me the good thing is that said relative has now been introduced to the reality of the Obama agenda. But even better in my view, is that now no longer will relative be surrounded each day at work with folks pretending to be exactly like-minded about the wonders of Obama. For the first time in as long as I can remember, that pressure to conform to PC leftist thought in order to get along with everybody else around you will no longer apply.

Said relative will now have the opportunity to view things outside of such mental and social pressures. Granted the laptop website was home paged to CNN, as was the TV in the apartment, but at least there is a chance for enlightenment. I'm cautiously optimistic.

[Ranger]

In other news (Via Drudge):

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/09/27/130155161/lawyer-involved-in-prosecution-of-sen-ted-stevens-commits-suicide?ft=1&f=1001>Lawyer Involved In Prosecution Of Sen. Ted Stevens Commits Suicide

Curiouser and curiouser...

The investigation had been going on for more than a year and a report by the Special Prosecutor is expected in a few weeks. Marsh's lawyer, Bob Luskin, says he thought his client would not be charged. But apparently the strain of the investigation was just too much.

[anduril]

I'd never seen this (see below) before, but it's interesting and confirms what I thought at the time of the Iraq invasion: that this was more about global strategy than about Saddam Hussein. What "this" is is a report put out by PROJECT FOR THE NEW AMERICAN CENTURY in September, 2000, called: REBUILDING AMERICA’S DEFENSES, Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century. The key paragraph is:

Guarding the American security perimeter today – and tomorrow – will require changes in U.S. deployments and installations overseas.

Since the collapse of the Soviet empire, this perimeter has expanded slowly but inexorably. In Europe, NATO has expanded, admitting three new members and acquiring a larger number of “adjunct” members through the Partnership for Peace program. Tens of thousands of U.S, NATO and allied troops are on patrol in the Balkans, and have fought a number of significant actions there; in effect, the region is on the road to becoming a NATO protectorate. In the Persian Gulf region, the presence of American forces, along with British and French units, has become a semipermanent fact of life. Though the immediate mission of those forces is to enforce the no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq, they represent the long-term commitment of the United States and its major allies to a region of vital importance. Indeed, the United States has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional security. While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein. In East Asia, the pattern of U.S. military operations is shifting to the south: in recent years, significant naval forces have been sent to the region around Taiwan in response to Chinese provocation, and now a contingent of U.S. troops is supporting the Australianled mission to East Timor. Across the globe, the trend is for a larger U.S. security perimeter, bringing with it new kinds of missions.

Now obviously the writers of the report could not have foreseen the events of 9/11, however, it seems likely that for them those events represented a crisis that should not be allowed to go to waste. To paraphrase the report itself, the events of 9/11 represented "the immediate justification" for a redeployment of of US forces in line with the report's thinking. The project participants were:

Roger Barnett
U.S. Naval War College

Alvin Bernstein
National Defense University

Stephen Cambone
National Defense University

Eliot Cohen
Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

Devon Gaffney Cross
Donors' Forum for International Affairs

Thomas Donnelly
Project for the New American Century

David Epstein
Office of Secretary of Defense, Net Assessment

David Fautua
Lt. Col., U.S. Army

Dan Goure
Center for Strategic and International Studies

Donald Kagan
Yale University

Fred Kagan
U. S. Military Academy at West Point

Robert Kagan
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Robert Killebrew
Col., USA (Ret.)

William Kristol
The Weekly Standard

Mark Lagon
Senate Foreign Relations Committee

James Lasswell
GAMA Corporation

I. Lewis Libby
Dechert Price & Rhoads

Robert Martinage
Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment

Phil Meilinger
U.S. Naval War College

Mackubin Owens
U.S. Naval War College

Steve Rosen
Harvard University

Gary Schmitt
Project for the New American Century

Abram Shulsky
The RAND Corporation

Michael Vickers
Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment

Barry Watts
Northrop Grumman Corporation

Paul Wolfowitz
Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

Dov Zakheim
System Planning Corporation

Those principally in charge of the project were:

DONALD KAGAN GARY SCHMITT
Project Co-Chairmen

THOMAS DONNELLY
Principal Author

[Dave (in MA)]

Androol

[Walter]

So, who amongst Taranto's 'helpers' is dissing Clarice? Whoever it was, they should knock it off. After all, I would wager that the question is being asked by at least one current American Secretary of State.

[Dave (in MA)]

T. Collins:

the things in ObamaCare that make you go "Hmmmmmm".

Turn your head and go "Hmmmmmm".

[Clarice]

Oh, my, Walter. I confess I was uncertain about the headline, but honestly, is it so unthinkable with Obama on the downward slide?

[Jane]

How many are "a few weeks"? Before or after the election? And who is the special prosecutor?

[lyle]

Sidebar to anduril:

I skip right over your cut-n-paste comments. I can't be the only one nor the first to say this.

Seriously, dude, they carry as much interest as watching a primate's auto-erotic stimulation; which is to say none.

[MikeS]

The public is just to dumb to understand how we can lower our health care costs by spending an extra $2.5 trillion on health care. That's a shame because that plan harmonizes so well with Obama's plans to spend our way to prosperity and to bow and apologize our way to world peace.

[anduril]

Seriously, dude, since you invented the simile and presented it to the world here, it probably holds interest for you. U R weird.

[Walter]

Clarice,

I would expect that it would drive up traffic--and be a surprise to many of the people clicking through expecting praise for the H-woman.

Not so long ago I vehemently maintained she was too radical for the office. At this point, it seems fair to concede that there were worse choices in the field.

[MarkJ]

lyle,

Seriously, dude, they carry as much interest as watching a primate's auto-erotic stimulation; which is to say none.

As a member of an underrepresented simian affinity group, I'm offended by your clear lack of sensitivity toward primate activists deeply concerned with self-stimulation issues.

Time for you to attend a Jean Sibelius Happy Camp to get your attitude adjusted.

[DrJ]

Hey! Don't drag the great composer into a discussion of masturbating monkeys or Anduril (is there a difference?).

[The first one raising rates around here gets it in the you know where.]

Mark meant Kathleen, not Jean, and this Sibelius composes odes to authority.
============

[DrJ]

Her last name is Sebelius, not Sibelius.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Curiouser and curiouser...

You know, when I saw that, I have to admit I wondered if he'd, say, committed suicide with three rounds to the back of the head.

But more seriously, I can easily imagine someone who got too committed to a conviction, realizes the jig is up, and couldn't face disgrace and disbarment.

Or even couldn't face the thought of paying for his defense.

[How much is that doggy in the window?]

I'm glad to have my spelling adjusted. I'm glad you left my attitude alone.
=============

[Charlie (Colorado)]

As a member of an underrepresented simian affinity group, I'm offended by your clear lack of sensitivity toward primate activists deeply concerned with self-stimulation issues.

So much for the "monkeying around" jokes.

[rse]

This is not the right thread but it's too good not to link. LUN

Now I'm going to finish crying and enjoy the family.

It's about how different First and former families treat our military.

[rse]

Here's the LUN.

Time for a kleenex.

[centralcal]

Yes, rse's link is a really good one.

[Old Lurker]

Nobody's gonna touch your attitude, Kim, they'll have to answer to the rest of us. And adjusting spelling is a very slippery slope around here !

:-)

[Neo]

If anything, we should redouble efforts --- make that ass whupping into a real Sodom and Gomorrah affair complete with Charlton Heston's voice from heaven.

[Haversham Brothers]

What's wrong with monkeying around ?

[Ignatz]

Am I the only one that doesn't quite get Hillbuzz?
They're always talking about how great Bush is compared to the jerk Barry and yet their site is ostensibly about promoting just as big a jerk in Hillary.
There's always a bit of a through the looking glass feel to the place IMO.

[DrJ]

And adjusting spelling is a very slippery slope around here !

Agreed, OL, but to confuse Jean Sibelius and Kathleen Sebelius is just too much for me. I adore the former -- the last movement of his second symphony is practically orgasmic. I'm not particularly fond of the latter, though her department does pay my bills.

[Porchlight]

I find the whole Ted Stevens saga very, very sad. Sure wish that plane hadn't gone down.

[Extraneus]

It's on.

[Old Lurker]

Two good points, DrJ!

[peter]

Answer to Ignatz-- no you are not the only one who doesn't get Hillbuzz.

[Chubby]

Porchlight ... off topic but dying to know ... did your parents have a hand in the building and design of the PJ house, or did they buy the house finished?

[PD]

Nice field goal, not.

[Pagar]

Ever more popular or this could be a clue.

Fraud suspected as dead city retirees continue to collect pension checks.

Didn't say rather they were continuing to vote.

[PD]

I'm sure the people cashing those checks are doing so by mistake.

[Captain Hate]

Iggy, re: Hillbuzz; remember we were allies with Stalin in WW2. Although for FDR and especially POS Henry Wallace that wasn't that big a stretch.

[Chubby]

Ignatz, just an idea, but maybe Hillbuzz formed around the same time Rush was pushing folks to vote for Hillary in the primaries? kind of a faux Hillary love site?

[Chubby]

hmmmm, I wonder if Archie is a Democrat or Republican. I'm sure Veronica is a limousine liberal.

[Rick Ballard]

Gallup to Dems - Make Your Peace

The article must be read from beginning to end and the charts studied with a modicum of attention in order to savor the full flavor. Voter enthusiasm, President's job approval, Congressional approval rating and satisfaction with 'the way things are going' are all at significantly (statistically speaking) lower levels than they were when the Dems lost 53 seats.

Gallup has set the table for their change to LVs next week. I wonder if they will choose Abandonate Ogni Speranza as the title?

[Chubby]

Rick, I somehow think that rallies designed for the sole purpose of dissing ordinary God--loving Americans, calling them violent extremists and so on, isn't going to help the Dems.

[PD]

Packers might as well pass every down. Sure ain't got no run game.

I suppose the rest of you are watching Bristol Palin on Dancing with the Stars?

[Porchlight]

Chubby,

No, they bought it in 2002 from a developer who had purchased it from the second family to own it since it was built. It's very boxy and square, as you might imagine - but it was built for a family and is surprisingly comfortable as a family home. Although the big glass windows make for a nice view, I actually prefer it at night, with the lights lit. It has tons of recessed lighting - goodness knows what it will look like when all those warm incandescents have to be replaced with CFLs. My dad will probably like the electric bill a lot better though. ;)

[Clarice]

Obama having trouble with turnout for tomorrow's rally in Madison
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,601564,00.html

[PD]

Clarice, should I forego the sock-sorting and go help him out?

[PD]

Advice for Obama:

Luke 14:23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

[Clarice]

HEH,pd. How does he expect kids to come sit there to and from classes with no book bags, no pcs and no bottles of water or food?

[narciso]

Are their games, usually that lopsided.

[jorgxmckie]

Anduril, that is very old, and I'm pretty sure you missed some of the authors. Could you please go back and re-copy the entire list and then paste that into a comment.

I mean, if I don't get the entire list, I'm not that interested.

P.S. How much does it cost to subscribe to your website/journal/newsletter/twitter? I'm willing to go several hundred dollars for access to such bleeding edge research.

[Is the sarcasm tag really necessary?

[Melinda Romanoff]

PD-

Had to give up the tix for tonight.

This is ugly (my side). Pack "O" looks well prepped.

[PD]

Mel, yeah, I'm surprised the offense is doing so well. Special teams still stinks, so the Bears should try for all their scores on kickoffs and unts.

narciso, it'd be more even if both teams had a quarterback.

[Porchlight]

Wow, if Barry can't fill a rally in Madison, things are looking better than I thought.

[PD]

*p*unts.

Thought I'd better clarify that so no one filled in the wrong letter.

Turns out *Sarah* Palin's on Dancing, too.

[I Won]

What I want to do is just to go speak to young people directly and remind them of what I always said during the campaign, which was that hope's just a word unless we have 60 or more votes in the Senate; that change is always hard in this country except when I can just sign an executive order, like when I closed Gitmo, ended Don't ask, don't tell, and booted all the lobbyists from the White House; that we can't very well have a new tone in Washington when Republican teabaggers say no to everything I say and lie and distort my healthcare reform.

[PD]

Bears not goin' away!

[cathyf]

Hey, Melinda, the chatter this morning about Samuel Insull made me recommend this free market walking tour of the Chicago Loop. Not sure you saw it...

[Melinda Romanoff]

cathy-

I do those on any walk through the City. My favorites that I show off are The Monadnock Building, the largest masonry structure in the world (meaning ALL brick), and The Marquette Building, the other best lobby in the city, after The Rookery, especially with the restored 1905 Frank Lloyd Wright atrium.

I can't do it justice, and yes, I'm an architecture geek.

[Old Lurker]

What about the opera house throne, facing west with it's back to NYC?

[narciso]

Looks like I spoke too soon

[LeeS]

Lets see.. Health care passed and all is well? - Just got my small companies new health care contract for the next 12 months. For our little company of 4 people the BCBS cost went up 21%. It will be pure luck if we can continue to afford any health care once the Obama version goes into play. The whole thing (Obamacare) was a sick joke. Nothing was done to reduce costs - which has been the biggest problem for those you have health care now - too much was owed to the Lawyers by Obama.

[cathyf]

The Monadnock was the world's first "skyscraper" you know!

Did you read through the tour? It's got lots of odd esoteric Chicago history.

[cathyf]

What about the opera house throne, facing west with it's back to NYC?

Nah, that's with it's back to City Hall, where the crooks were constantly trying (and often succeeding) in ripping Insull off.

[Melinda Romanoff]

OL-

Funny you should mention that, it was built by Samuel Insull.

[Old Lurker]

Ha

[Old Lurker]

Thought so Mel.

[Melinda Romanoff]

cathy-

I know more of that history than the tour implies to tout, but they might deliver it on the tour. No sense in giving it all away on a web site.

I work across the street from the oldest timber framed structure left in the City limits, The Green Door Tavern, purportedly, a one time Capone establishment.

[Old Lurker]

Was that the one I saw on a history channel that had an escape hatch behind the bar down through the basement and out a tunnel so Capone could escape two blocks away?

[Melinda Romanoff]

That was probably The Lexington Hotel, if there weren't double exits from the other spots, I would be shocked.

[Melinda Romanoff]

OK-

I enjoyed the Hester punt return for six.

64 punts without one.

[PD]

Pack special teams come through again. Ugh.

[Melinda Romanoff]

And I fade.

G'night all.

[PD]

Wow, Aaron Rodgers really has big feet. If he had just one leg, he could be a dufflepud.

[PD]

Congrats, Mel. Bears took it away from the Pack.

[jimmyk]

Rick Lazio kindly withdrew from the Conservative ticket for NY governor, aiding Paladino's chances against Cuomo. Of course he would not endorse Paladino and dissed him (though not as much as he dissed Cuomo) in his news conference. Another poor loser, but not as bad as Murcowsky or Castle.

[lyle]

Seriously, dude, since you invented the simile and presented it to the world here, it probably holds interest for you.

Hey, everyone! I invented similes! Bet you didn't know that, you fey JOMers.

Entre nous: I had a hand in the early stages of metaphors and analogies. Can't claim pure ownership, sadly.

[daddy the "Extremist"]

"I suppose the rest of you are watching Bristol Palin on Dancing with the Stars?"

No, but always eager to help bash the Palin's, the ADN published photo's of Bristol's dance partner at Anchorage airport ">http://www.adn.com/2010/09/24/1469716/bristols-dancing-partner-strips.html"> in his underpants.

[daddy the "Extremist"]

This is fairly creepy.

Lisa Murcowskee is pondering using ads supporting her that were ">http://www.adn.com/2010/09/27/1473768/murkowski-campaign-might-use-stevens.html"> recorded by the late Senator Stevens back before she lost the Republican Primary. Don't know why she didn't use them previously, but now her campaign spokesman, who can obviously seance with the dear departed, is telling us:

"I know what Sen. Stevens would tell me," said [Murkowski spokesman Steve] Wackowski. "He would say, ‘Damn it, if I spent all that time with you taping this commercial, you'd better use it."

My suggestion was that if she needs an ad by an ex-Alaskan Republican Senator endorsing her, why not get her dad, Frank Mercowskee, to cut her one, since he gave her the Senate seat in the first place, plus he's still alive! If he thinks its such a great idea to disrespect the electorate like his daughter obviously does then he ought to step up and do an ad saying so. So far he has kept quiet. I am hoping it is because he still has some personal integrity, as opposed to simply staying mum because he knows his name is mud for originally appointing her, and endorsing her now for "The Mercowskee Seat" would be the final nail in her campaign coffin.

[daddy the "Extremist"]

Clarice,

Since I believe you were tracking this Bruce Weyhrauch case:

">http://www.adn.com/2010/09/27/1474585/judges-toss-evidence-former-legislators.html"> Judges toss evidence in former legislator's case
SERVICES: Prosecutors will have harder time proving fraud.

"Following the lead of the U.S. Supreme Court, a panel of judges from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has thrown out evidence that federal prosecutors hoped would prove that former Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch violated his duty to Alaskans."

[Ultra Growth]

Well the founders of Rockstar are Scottish, so i think they will do a GTA in the future in the UK, i say future because GTA is one of those games where you could make 100 and they still would be fresh so i can see the franchise going on for many years.
Ultra Growth

[daddy the "Extremist"]

Just some stories I thought I'd post before they disappear down the memory hole:

1) ">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39382469/ns/technology_and_science-science/"> Glacier ice loss less than once thought, study suggests. "Using new methods, the study researchers calculated new estimates of ice loss in Greenland and Antarctica that are significantly smaller than previous estimates."

2) ">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/windpower/8028328/Britains-offshore-windpower-costs-twice-as-much-as-coal-and-gas-generated-electricity.html"> Off shore wind farms cost twice as much to produce electricity as gas and coal powered stations and will need subsidies for at least 20 years, a major report warns.

[daddy the "Extremist"]

I wonder if we could get Ultra Growth hooked up with Acai Berry if that might make Prada Bags jealous?

[hit and run]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/26/AR2010092603356.html>Oh dear Lord:

When Obama steps onto a grass quad at the University of Wisconsin on Tuesday, he will deliver a newly tailored, more personalized campaign appeal aimed at ginning up enthusiasm, according to White House and senior Democratic officials.

More personalized?

If in 2008 Obama ran a carefully choreographed (and highly selective) biography campaign,now they're taking it . . . micro.

This all ends with Obama sharing a story of walking by Malia's room one night and overhearing her tearful prayer for unity,doesn't it?

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

He's toast.

[Pagar]

"Offshore wind farms cost"

According to a commenter at this EU Referendum Article the owner of the windfarm is:

"by Atomic Hairdryer » Sun Sep 26, 2010 2:04 pm

For the Kent windfarm, tracing the owner and the interest is easy. Vattenfall's wholly owned by the Swedish government. We're helping subsidise their energy costs and taxpayers."

[Extraneus]

It's the Buck Up Tour at Drudge today.

"All those who really believe in what we've been doing, should get out and vote. No excuses."

[Just a paraphrase, since all of his statements seem to assume that everyone who voted for him was a socialist, knew he was just kidding with the moderate rhetoric, and should be delighted with the "progress" toward Utopia.]

Pathetic.

[Rollie J]

"All those who really believe in what we've been doing, should get out and vote. No excuses."

Well that should be good for dropping Dem turnout other 20 points.

[Rollie J]

Looks like Dem turnout is dropping already:

"Democratic Party Chairman Timothy Kaine says he sees no slight in Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold skipping a campaign rally tonight where President Barack Obama is appearing on his behalf."

Drudge/AP (LUN)

[Old Lurker]

Thomas Sowell has a good one up at RCP. LUN. He wrote this before yesterday's announcement of new rules to track all money leaving the US, and without mentioning the new rules for 1099's from everyone about everyone, and also without wondering if the internet tapping news yesterday somehow fits into this picture. The UK went down this "Lock all the doors and windows then tax it all" approach in the 60's and 70's, and that was the final nail in the coffin of that empire. When Thatcher came along in the 80's and opened things back up, the UK was a shell of its former self. And rich Brits got around it all anyway, such being the history of the world.

[Old Lurker]

Is Obama wearing cardigan sweaters yet and carrying his own (empty) suitcase? Can he spell "malaise"? Just wondering where we are on the path.

[Clarice]

Thank, Ext.

[Porchlight]

RollieJ,

Good catch. I can't believe AP even noted that Feingold wasn't going to be there.

Just curious, what does a candidate do with his time in these situations? Does he go do another campaign event, or does he sit home and twiddle his thumbs until it's over?

[Army of Davids]

Smoot Hawley and history leaves clues. Our government is not listening.

When goods do not cross borders, soldiers will.
Frederic Bastiat

[rse]

OL-

I just ordered Claire Berlinski's There is No Alternative:Why Margaret Thatcher Matters" yesterday.

Have you read it?

LUN is the interview with her by Peter Robinson.

[Old Lurker]

Have not, rse, but will on your suggestion. Thanks.

[Chubby]

oh goody, Daddy, your use of the term "memory hole" gives me a perfect opening to post this impressive video that I saw yesterday for the first time (tho' it's been around a while)

Should government stop dumping money into a giant hole?

[Chubby]

((When goods do not cross borders, soldiers will.
Frederic Bastiat ))

Higher taxes, higher cost of living, high unemployment rate, recession and protectionism. Wow, what a totally winning formula!