Junk Science And Liberal Porn

Andrew Ferguson writes in The Weekly Standard on

The New Phrenology

How liberal psychopundits understand the conservative brain.

His gist - lefty social scientists churn out "studies" proving that lefties are more thoughtful, more reflective, mor compassionate, and just all around better people; other lefties review their breakthrough stuff and it gets published and quoted. However, the studies are silly and, given the absurd sampling, only have the potential of offering insight into the values and thought processes of undergraduate Asian-American psych majors.

Just for fun (OK, "fun", but for some of us it is), here is pundit Thomas Edsall, writing in the NY Times and citing some of the same papers mocked and debunked by Ferguson.

TO BE FAIR: Ferguson makes much of the fact that the samples look nothing like America, or really, anywhere except maybe the psych department of a California university. However, the authors claim that their resutls show no sensitivity to race or gender. Maybe!

That still leaves us wondering whether twenty year old psych majors really have the same approach to life as, I don't know forty year old self-employed businessman. Or union workers.

 

Comments

[Jim Eagle]

OT: He is more than insecure. He is off his rocker.

(h/t Insty)

[Ignatz]

Linky goes nowhere, Jack.

[rse]

I am glad you linked to this Tom because Andrew Ferguson also mentioned Jonathan Haidt's book The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. He didn't love it either. I am concerned by the large number of commentators who love that book. Probably because they believe it portrays the Right as being reasonable.

A careful reading of the book though has Haidt pushing the cultivation of emotion over intellect. I think history conclusively shows us that is a dangerous position for educators to take.

If Haidt's emphasis was not planned, it nevertheless dovetails magnificently with the current Outcomes Based Education emphasis of his UVa colleagues as the College of Education.

LUN is today's blog post on just how much the emotional instead of knowledge and the intellect is driving national ed reform. And what I did not put in post but will generate interest here. Yes, AERA is the organization that thought Bill Ayers should have a leadership role a few years ago.

[AliceH]

Jonah Goldberg adds some interesting commentary re the Ferguson article here.

Key paragraph: "Oh and one last point about the interpretations of these studies. The core — hyper-liberal — assumption behind them is that the more liberal emotional or cognitive states are superior. In this study, it’s taken as a given that having more compassion is better than having too little. But that depends, doesn’t it? One can be too compassionate (or open-minded, or nuanced etc). This study could also demonstrate that “conservatives” get bored more quickly by pointless emotional bleating in lab conditions."

[Ignatz]

China slowing more than headline GDP numbers show.

[Danube of Thought]

This looks like a niche for the Identity Teenager when he reaches his majority.

[Clarice]

If it says Berkeley , Berkeley , Berkeley on the label
It's a turkey, turkey, turkey

[Ignatz]

--In this study, it’s taken as a given that having more compassion is better than having too little. But that depends, doesn’t it? One can be too compassionate (or open-minded, or nuanced etc).--

I question the original premise. The liberals guilt-tinged, pitiful sympathy for others does not equal compassion any more than I demonstrate compassion for my kids by feeling sorry for them and never disciplining them.

Lefty "compassion" equals dependency and despondency for its 'beneficiaries' and state coercion and confiscation from its "donors" and of course it yields the side benefit of immense power for them to enforce their "compassion".

[Jim Eagle]

For a chuckle or two go to #ObamaInHistory at Twitter. C&P won't work because I am on mobile twitter. Worth the visit.

[Jim Eagle]

Iggy,

My iPad must not be the right vehicle for linking but go to The Anchoress. He really is a meglomaniac narcisstic.

[Captain Hate]

Here's the link JiB referred to: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/theanchoress/2012/05/15/pity-the-president/

Incredible.

[Danube of Thought]

Liberals measure compassion by how much taxpayer money you believe should be spent. That's a pretty easy kind of compassion to have.

[Ignatz]

Thanks CH and JiB.
What a ponce.

[Neo]

Thomas Edsall seems to draw on the meme that all "rich" folks are Republicans.

If that's so, just who were all those folks that Obama hit up for a million dollars the other night ? .. Republicans ?? LOL

Otherwise, I just might not have much to compalin about with “Higher Social Class Predicts Increased Unethical Behavior.”

The paper, by Paul K. Piff of the University of California, Berkeley, and four colleagues, reports that members of the upper class are more likely than others to behave unethically, to lie during negotiations, to drive illegally and to cheat when competing for a prize.

Let's see that certainly sounds a lot like Lindsay Lohan (D-Hollywood) and many of the Hollywood crowd who certainly aren't dominated by Republicans.

[AliceH]

And... here's a link to the twitter hashtag #ObamaInHistory

I believe that hash was inspired by Commentary post, headline "Obama Drops His Name Into the Other Presidential Biographies"

[Neo]

Also, Democrats like like Wall Street is dominated by Republicans. The face of Wall Street this past week was Jamie Dimon (D-JPMorgan). He isn't just a Democrat, but a lifetime Democrat.

[Porchlight]

I recommend the Ferguson article. It is hilarious (in a dry way) as well as insightful. I'd forgotten what a great writer he is.

Also "New phrenology" is a perfect title/catchphrase.

[Threadkiller]

McClintock tries to dumb it down to the lowest common denominator.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG-Pvkqiblw

[Jim Eagle]

Every hour I am here at the car dealer for service the cost goes up another $200. This time its a new windshield washer pump. Funny how front brakes, pumps, tires, etc need replacing within a few K of the warranty expiring:)

My entry at #ObamaInHistory: Killed Osama more thn once.

[Equus]

I know; as a former Justice said(paraphrased)

conservative obscenity, when I see it.

Before retiring from the Supreme Court in 2009, liberal Justice David Souter penned a dissent so critical of the court's conservative justices, Chief Justice John Roberts went to great lengths to prevent it from being published. That's one of the clams from The New Yorker's epic dissection of the 2010 Supreme Court Decision Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission. Taking us inside the legal wranglings of the high-profile case, staff writer Jeffrey Toobin describes a dissent Souter wrote at the end of his tenure at the Supreme Court. The argument, which remains unpublished, accused Roberts of engineering the outcome of the Citizens United case:

Souter wrote a dissent that aired some of the Court’s dirty laundry. By definition, dissents challenge the legal conclusions of the majority, but Souter accused the Chief Justice of violating the Court’s own procedures to engineer the result he wanted.
Roberts didn’t mind spirited disagreement on the merits of any case, but Souter’s attack—an extraordinary, bridge-burning farewell to the Court—could damage the Court’s credibility. So the Chief came up with a strategically ingenious maneuver.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/05/how-justice-souter-almost-left-supreme-court-blaze-glory/52300/

[Ignatz]

Horse shit.

[Neo]

The “powerful” students—that is, the students who said on the questionnaire that they were feeling powerful that morning—showed less dramatic reactions to the stories than other students. Or, as the professors put it: “Our data suggest that social power attenuates emotional reactions to those who suffer.”

You can interpret this many ways. It could be said the heroric figures, like Medal of Honor winners, move past the pain to do something more than curl up in a ball and weep at other's pain. This doesn't make them any less compassionate. It just means they channel their reactions differently.

[Kevin B]

W.M.Briggs,statistician to the stars,is forever delving into the self serving studies that purport to show conservatives as stupid or insane.

In this post he links some of his favorite debunkings of this ridiculous genre of 'social science' nonsense.

[AliceH]

O/T - my 2 favorite comments so far re #ObamaInHistory (article, not twitter):

First comes inserting himself into the record. Next comes airbrushing others out.
and
Obama has always been president of Eastasia.

[Gus]

Name a single liberal policy that works.
JUST ONE.
Liberals continue to pander to groups in exchange for votes. The black family unit has nearly been destroyed by this.
Liberals KNOW that their policies don't work, so they convince themselves that CONSERVTIVES/TEABAGGERS/the GOP etc are hate filled bigots. So their consciences don't ache. Liberals continue destructive policies, because the only other option is to be relegated as the extinct Democrat party.
In the end, their compa$$ion i$ your ca$h, and their vote$.

[NK]

Tom--

interesting that you post this ferguson article immediately after a post about the inevitability of 'gay marriage'. You correctly highlight the lefty sociological nonsense that comes out of 'social experimentation' and the risible conclusions that sputter out of the lefty mind that is closed shut to empirical evidence. So why, do you seem to embrace the need for 'gay marriage' experimentation, when it will only ruin the lives of many children, just like every lefty social experiment that came before 'gay marriage.' Permanently fouling up marriage and children is nothing to be glib about.

[Jim Ryan]

Did youse notice that Jerry Brown described the enormity of the Cal deficit as "unexpected"? Snicker. The most used word of the last three years. Look for lib history books to describe the Obama presidency as an "unexpected" failure.

[hit and run]

#ObamaInHistory

Deserves the full bgates treatment.

[NK]

JimR-- California's current insolvency and then bankruptcy when pension fund bills come due is as predictable as day following night. The Golden State will need Federal legislation allowing access to the federal bankruptcy Code to restructure bond debt and pension obligations. same for Illinois and RI, Christy may have saved NJ just in time..

[Gus]

Meanwhile Wisconsin is solvent and anticipates a budget surplus in the next year.

RECALL WALKER!!!!

[matt]

An interesting interview of Henry Kissinger after his TSA defenestration. LUN. Heh...

[James D.]

Re: the #ObamainHistory - I just don't understand. I wouldn't have thought it possible for anyone to be as narcissistic and tone-deaf as Zero and his lackeys.

How is this not fodder for ridicule not just here and among Conservatives, but in the wider culture?

If it were Bush...hell, even if it were Clinton who'd done this, they'd be roasted alive in the MSM.

But it's Obama and...crickets.

[MarkO]

Anyone here remember when liberals were all about free speech?

[Jim Ryan]

hit, many M.A. theses will be written in attempt to "explain" how Obama ended up a failure against all odds. It will remain a classic "problem" to assign as a term paper topic for many generations. The papers and theses which most impressively place the blame elsewhere than Obama and liberal ideology will score an "A". The papers which just scratch their heads a "B" (and if eloquent, "B+"). Those attributing the failure to Obama and liberal ideology will have "too simplistic" and "too ideological" written in the margins with the grade "D".

[Some guy]

I love these studies, and more ironically how much the left *needs* these studies.

One of the few things a typical liberal needs is to be told how righteous and smart they are, yet they keep producing these studies to tell them how righteous and smart they are, and just as important, how stupid and wicked their opponents are.

I guess they need it to counter all that real world data about what their policies actually do to humanity. Probably couldn't sleep at night if they understood that reality.

[MarkO]

OK. Let's get to work on mocking this stuff:

FROM THE OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE WEB SITE:

"James Buchanan, the 15th president, was the only American president never to marry. Barack Obama has supported the largest expansion or marriage rights in American history."

[MarkO]

During his term in office, James Buchanan dismissed Brigham Young, a combative Mormon, as the governor of the Utah Territory. He ordered more than one thousand soldiers to go to Utah to put down the Mormon rebellion.

During his very first term, Obama ordered more than one thousand media outlets to crush the Mormon rebellion of Mitt Romney.

[Neo]

The Heritage Foundation’s Rory Cooper tweeted that Obama had casually dropped his own name into Ronald Reagan’s official biography on www.whitehouse.gov, claiming credit for taking up the mantle of Reagan’s tax reform advocacy with his “Buffett Rule” gimmick. My first thought was, he must be joking. But he wasn’t—it turns out Obama has added bullet points bragging about his own accomplishments to the biographical sketches of every single U.S. president since Calvin Coolidge (except, for some reason, Gerald Ford).

Will no one rid me of this meddlesome politician ?

[Porchlight]

I guess they need it to counter all that real world data about what their policies actually do to humanity. Probably couldn't sleep at night if they understood that reality.

I can tell you that 99% of the liberals I know have zero idea what their policies actually do to humanity. Where would they learn about it? Not from the schools, and not from the media, and not from most historians.

[matt]

neo....better be careful or you'll get a visit from the SS.

[Gus]

This from Obama the 1st Gay Presidents' bio at WHITEHOUSE.GOV.

President Barack Obama the 1st gay President, once kissed a girl, and he didn't like it.

Swear to God.

[AliceH]

#ObamaInHistory: I'm shamelessly stealing all of Dan Foster's NRO post

“In the 12th Century B.C., Moses the Lawgiver delivered the Ten Commandments to the Israelites. President Obama the Lawgiver has added significantly to them, overseeing the enactment of a record number of new regulations.”

“In the Late Neolithic, the wheel was invented. President Obama has made historic use of wheels for his many campaign trips to Ohio.”

“During the Cambrian period, the first vertebrates appeared. President Obama showed historic signs of a primitive backbone himself when he boldly announced that “at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.””

“About three billion years ago, the first aerobic organisms appeared. President Obama has made historic use of oxygen in his detailed answers to press conference questions.”

[Jim,MtnView,Ca,USA]

re: "visit from the SS".
As time goes forward, I am more and more concerned for the safety of Mitt Romney. There are a lot of hysterics out there, and if the polls start to solidify with a stable Romney advantage, well, I worry.

off topic: a memorable phrase noted at instapundit, noting that BHO has not really ever had a job:
"My kids have contributed more to GDP already in their young lives than Obama has done in his."

[Chubby]

((The liberals guilt-tinged, pitiful sympathy for others does not equal compassion any more than I demonstrate compassion for my kids by feeling sorry for them and never disciplining them.))

exactly exactly exactly.

[Neo]

James K. Polk oversaw the entry of Texas into the Union. Barack Obama is trying his best to turn over Texas to the Mexicans by allowing as many as they can muster to stream into Texas to make it Mexican again. Through the inovative use of arms sales to Mexican cartels, the President is circumventing the laws of both the US and Mexico to help bring death and estruction to both nations.

Santa Ana proposes, Brack Obama disposes.

[NK]

Whitehouse Website:

All kidding aside -- I know it's hard-- but the Once is a sick man. His narcissism is clinical-- he needs supervised care.

[Neo]

William Howard Taft oversaw the entry of Arizona into the Union.

President Barack Obama, through the innovative use of arms sales to Mexican cartels, is circumventing the laws of both the US and Mexico to help bring death and destruction to both nations. His Attorney General has been able to use his stupidity and gile to outfox investigators in the US Commission on Civil Rights and the US House of Representatives in order to keep this illegal activity from seeing the light of day, and thus secure his Black manhood.

[lyle]

It's not just him, NK. He's surrounded himself with juveniles who stroke his [redacted] and deepen his narcissism.

[NK]

Lyle-- sure, he's clinical and surrounded by enablers. What could possibly go wrong?

[Janet]

Obama probably doesn't know his staff did this...he's upstairs watching ESPN in his flip-flops & sweatpants.
The groupies are puttin' on the concert. :(

[sailor]

Oh, Janet, I think he knew.

[NK]

I agree with sailor. 'Bam gave the order to vandalize the POTUS bios. In his demented mind he thinks it's perfectfully natural for the Once to be in the bios.

[Extraneus]

it turns out Obama has added bullet points bragging about his own accomplishments to the biographical sketches of every single U.S. president since Calvin Coolidge

Obama thinks he owns whitehouse.gov - that it's his site. Watch him try to take it after he gets his butt thrown out of the real thing.

(Actually what they'll probably do is give The Office of the President Elect the wrong passwords.)

[Buford Gooch]

Obama shows more every day that he is a child.

[Extraneus]

A letter from James O'Keefe:

After our investigation in Washington, D.C., the office of the Attorney General of the United States accused Project Veritas of "manufacturing" voter fraud when we showed how easily ballots were offered in the District of Columbia -- even the ballot of Eric Holder himself.

I admit when I heard the word "manufactured" it struck a nerve.

With our small team and the support of our donors, we sought to expose not just how fraud happens, but to take the investigation to the extreme by stating the names of voters who also identified themselves as non-citizens.

Last Tuesday, we did just that in North Carolina.

With the power of transparency in our hands through public information, we cross-checked the voter roles with forms where individuals had declined jury duty for being non-citizens.

It appears as if at least one individual either perjured themselves on the Durham County Jury Excusal Form or is not a U.S. Citizen who is registered to vote.

Our attempts to verify their citizenship directly with the individuals were met with obfuscation and hostility so we left it up to state officials to investigate – only to be told that "voting is a public policing open process" by the Deputy Director of the Wake County Board of Elections

Our North Carolina investigation has been taxing and one of our most intensive investigations this year – and the work speaks for itself.

As you will see, our top investigators, dressed in outrageous costumes, speaking a foreign language, covered in bandages and . . . yes, being offered ballots each and every time for individuals who declared themselves non-citizens.

This was a long and expensive investigation that exposed both fraud and the hypocrisy of those who repeatedly state that no voter fraud exists.

You'll see an election judge say that he will "mostly support" the Constitution and then go on to state, "We need somebody to run over Scalia first."

Then you'll see for yourself the hypocrisy of a state-funded school, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where we have NUMEROUS administrators embrace our investigator who appears to be behind "Operation Chaos" to commit mass voter fraud within the state.

To top it all off, we have a director of the "new ACORN", Coalition to Protect Families, compare voter fraud to "speeding" and advising with a wink and a nod, "There's even less enforcement of these laws than there are of those."

Our staff was up all night finishing this video and the reaction just within the first few hours has been tremendous.

Just minutes ago, commentator and political icon Michelle Malkin gave us a generous donation and tweeted, "I just donated to Project Veritas to support America's best election integrity watchdogs. Have you?"

I'm extremely grateful for Mrs. Malkin's support and yours. If you can, after your watch our video, please make a donation on that same page. Click here to get started. [The video is at the link.]

Thanks again for your ongoing support. With the support of our generous donors, Project Veritas has already made an incredible impact this year.

Help us continue the fight.

Yours for Truth,

James O'Keefe

[hit and run]

NK:
'Bam gave the order to vandalize the POTUS bios.

Well, I want to see the transcript of those conversations.

...as written by Jim Ryan

[Captain Hate]

(Actually what they'll probably do is give The Office of the President Elect the wrong passwords.)

If that's the worst thing that happens when the JEF is booted we'll be very ahead of how I think things will play out. El JEFe won't take rejection well; he's already been scarred by his deadbeat parents doing so and belongs in therapy from that rather than in the White House.

[Bruce]

Also, Democrats like like Wall Street is dominated by Republicans. The face of Wall Street this past week was Jamie Dimon (D-JPMorgan). He isn't just a Democrat, but a lifetime Democrat.

What is humorous is that Wall Street is not Republican. Probably just as many, if not more Democrats there. Nice to portray it as Republican though to their base.

My theory is that a lot of those who got rich fairly easily, seem to end up Democrats. You see this with inherited wealth, and with the wealth that comes from instant stardom in Hollywood. And, I think with Big Law lawyers. On the other hand, those who gain wealth, and even great wealth, through long work and maybe turning a small business into a bigger one, tend to be Republican.

And, I think that the reason for this, is that the former group question why they were blessed with their wealth, and others were not. And, the latter know why.

[lyle]

Anyone who thinks Wall St. is dominated by Republicans is an imbecile.

[Thomas Collins]

General George Catlett Marshall, who never penned a memoir (as opposed to the brilliant Barack Obama, who penned two memoir like books before reaching the age of 50), has been referred to as the organizer of victory in World War II. This feat pales when measured against Barack Obama's organization of asbestos removal in Altgeld Gardens, not to mention his relentless focus on organizing male only golfing outings.

[bgates]

Did you know?
William Howard Taft weighed 334 pounds, and had a bathtub installed in the White House that measured 84x41 inches.

Today, Michelle Obama bathes in the White House.

[Sue]

bgates,

LOL.

[bgates]

Did you know?

John Kennedy was killed in Texas by a man with a rifle. Today, Barack Obama sends guns from Texas south so they can only be used to kill Mexicans and Americans in Mexico.

[bgates]

Did you know?

Thomas Jefferson was a Renaissance Man who wrote one of the most inspirational documents in the history of political science, expanded America's borders dramatically, and contributed to the fields of biology and architecture. Today, Barack Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure who watches sports on tv and once ate a f*cking dog.

[sailor]

Bruce, how true.

[Clarice]

I promise if elected president to put bgates in charge of the WH website.

Thank you.

[Sue]

Tammy Bruce tweets a link to a picture where Obama is inserted into the Last Supper.

[Chubby]

((Tammy Bruce tweets a link to a picture where Obama is inserted into the Last Supper. ))

can we now expect Biblical enhancements as well, the KBO Version, where Christ mulitplied loaves and fishes, and Obama increased social spending. Where Christ walked on water, and Obama miraculously got bin Laden. Where Christ healed the sick and Obama started Obamacare.

[MarkO]

LOL bgates. Mockery. More.

[daddy]

It may just be my orneriness, but O'Reilly Pissed me off again last night in his interview of frank Vandersloot, a Mitt Romney donor who has been targeted by Obama via an enemies list.

Vandersloot, who's business has been harmed by this published enemies list, had 2 very worthwhile questions, but O'Reilly, in typical knee jerk fashion, immediately dismissed Vandersloot's well thought out and well stated questions, and instead provided personalcover for Obama by insinuating Vandersloot was thinking as an irrational conspiracy theorist.

From the tape:

O'REILLY: Some believe -- some believe this is economic terrorism. Not economic, political terrorism. That targeting a businessman like you running an honest business because of your freedom to donate who you want to donate to, but try to ruin you personally and professionally, that's terrorism, political terrorism. Do you see it that way?

VANDERSLOOT: Well, I have these two questions, Bill, to President Obama. Why did you publish a list? Why?

O'REILLY: But he doesn't know anything about it. I'm not making excuses for his people.

VANDERSLOOT: ...his people.

O'REILLY: I don't think he micromanages.

VANDERSLOOT: He surely put the people in charge to make those accusations.

O'REILLY: He's responsible for it, because they did it under his name. So absolutely.

VANDERSLOOT: Ask them: why did you make a list? Of all the things you could be doing..

O'REILLY: They want to hurt you and intimidate others who would give to Romney. That's why.

VANDERSLOOT: Second question is who's supposed to receive the message? Is it only the liberal press that's supposed to go after these folks? Or is it also the agencies that he runs like -- that he's in charge of and who report to him and want to please him? The FDC, the FDA, the USDA?

O'REILLY: Well, I think you might be -- you might be making it more complicated than it is.
Here's the bottom line. They want you to shut up and not give any money. And you're going to give another donation, I understand, to the Romney campaign. But they wanted to intimidate you from giving any money to the campaign and others like you who might be thinking about it. Business people going, "I'm not going to do that, because they'll put my name on the Web and I'll lose customers. So I'm not going to do it."
That's what they -- but that's terrorism. And that's what that is.

VANDERSLOOT: I suppose it is. It never happened -- no president has ever done it before.

O'REILLY: OK. But I want -- I think you should be careful on this. If I do ever get the chance to talk to Barack Obama, I'm going to bring up your case, because you're absolutely right. He should scrub that and take that off, and he shouldn't do that.
But I don't know if he himself -- he himself had ordered to do it, and I think we've got to be careful.

I wish O'Reilly would shut up sometimes and let somebody expand on their points. Watching the exchange you can see that Vandersloot wanted to continue with his line of questioning, but upon being forestalled by O'Reilly's pontificating dismissal of the issue, he gave it up.

So back to the 2 questions

1) Why publish such a list?
2) Who is supposed to receive the Message?

I'd like to have heard more elaboration on questions 1 and 2, and then questions 3 and 4, and with some discussion of the legality of paid staffers on my tax dollars amassing and publishing this list.

[lyle]

Stolen from a commenter at Althouse:

"Like Jesus, Obama also sports the middle initial of 'H'."

[lyle]

For some reason, I can access Atlhouse's site but not her comments section so I can't give proper attribution. But that is one one the best.

[jimmyk]

All kidding aside -- I know it's hard-- but the Once is a sick man. His narcissism is clinical-- he needs supervised care.

His commencement speech at Barnard, aside from talking about the flaws of the Constitution, I gather was pretty much a campaign speech. I mean, who does that? He's an embarrassment to the office.

[jimmyk]

Anyone who thinks Wall St. is dominated by Republicans is an imbecile.

In addition to Dimon being a Democrat, Goldman Sachs is a total Dem stronghold (notwithstanding Hank Paulson). Pretty sure the large institutions that run with their palms open at the first sign of trouble are largely Democrat (surprise, surprise)--Citi, BoA, MS. The Republicans tend to be in the smaller more entrepreneurial places like private equity, junk bonds, hedge funds.

[Neo]

This is gonna leave a mark …

The first area was Obama’s identity — just who was he?

“Obama was steeped in Islam but knew nothing about Christianity,” Klein says.

Klein asked Wright if he converted Obama from being a Muslim into a Christian.

“He said, I don’t know about that. but I can tell you that I made it easy for him to come to an understanding of who Jesus Christ is and not feel that he was turning his back on his Islamic friends and his Islamic traditions and his understanding of Islam,” Klein says.

After the NY Post story, this ought to get Rev Wright an offer of at least $250,000 to shut up.

[Clarice]

weekly Standard..

A new poll of Arkansas Democrats shows Barack Obama receiving support from only 45 percent of Democratic primary voters in Arkansas’s Fourth Congressional District, while 38 percent support his underfunded and relatively unknown primary challenger, Tennessee lawyer John Wolfe, Jr. Seventeen percent are undecided in the district poll. In an interview with THE WEEKLY STANDARD, Wolfe said the poll results were “unbelievable” and said a defeat for Obama in the Arkansas primary would be “politically cataclysmic.” “It says the momentum is good,” Wolfe said about the poll. “This is democracy in action."

[Captain Hate]

Thanks for including that daddy, even though I'm maxed out on examples of BOR being a clueless boob and borderline retard.

O/T The Flaming Feathered Skull strikes again: http://minx.cc/?post=329294

[jimmyk]

I share the contempt for BOR, but to give credit where credit is due, at least he had Vandersloot on his show, and the basic elements of the story probably got out to a lot of people who hadn't heard it. I don't expect to see Vandersloot on GMA or Today, or anywhere in the NFM.

[Captain Hate]

Yes jimmyk; I'll concede that. He also has Tammy Bruce (who probably shares our opinion of his cognitive ability) on sporadically so despite his personal illiteracy he does provide a forum which others don't.

[Clarice]

CH, you missed the best part:

Marisa De Franco has just entered the Dem primary against Warren.

[narciso]

O'REilly is too busy, listening to the voices in his own head, so it's more refreshing when he has either Tammy or Laura on, as substitute hosts, since they know something about the subject. That aspect of the parody, Colbert captured accurately,

[Jane]

William Howard Taft weighed 334 pounds, and had a bathtub installed in the White House that measured 84x41 inches.

And yet they still won't invite Oprah. Amazing.

[Gus]

O'Reilly is a circus Geek. His ego is nearly as big as Obama's. The question and answer portion of O'Reilly, with a guest, is always O'Reilly right, guest wrong. O'Reilly snidely cuts off the guest, in this case a business man who is successful.
The moment O'Reilly had his life and financial future interrupted or threatened by Obama, his pants get shat.
This shit is dead serious. If Obama does not approve, he would not hire scum like Axelrod. Obama knows EXACTLY what is going on. Futhermore, he is responsible for his henchmens' actions.

[NK]

DeFranco still in Dem primary? hmmmm... well I guess I would relish Lizzie losing to an unfunded Dem in the primary. The problem is what if the Dems close ranks and DeFranco wins in Nov? I assume DeFranco is a standard issue Mass Lefty?

[Jane]

She's an immigration lawyer NK and Jim Rhoads speak highly of her parents. That's all I know.

[narciso]

Probably, but she's a more viable candidate,
vs. Brown,

[Jane]

I think it's probably too late narciso. People seem to like Brown. I don't know if he will win but I don't expect an alternative surge at this point.

[Captain Hate]

Brown can only benefit as an incumbent when the donks reveal their utter disorganization by bringing in a ringer at this late date. What an embarrassment; I don't even think Duke and Duke could outdo that although I'd hate to test that hypothesis.