AmSpec Blog

Offensive Metaphor Update

info@spectator.org (Robert Stacy McCain) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 17:05:13 EST

A gravity vortex seems to be sucking the common sense out of discourse in Dallas:

Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections "has become a black hole" because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.
Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud "Excuse me!" He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a "white hole."
That prompted Judge Thomas Jones, who is black, to demand an apology from Mayfield for his racially insensitive analogy.

Rod Dreher calls this a triumph for "the Idiot-American community." For the benefit of the astronomically-impaired, a black hole is a celestial phenomenon in which, scientists say, th...

NY Times: Not Biased Enough?

info@spectator.org (Robert Stacy McCain) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 16:51:14 EST

Media Matters, in case anyone is unaware, is an organization dedicated to the proposition that the liberal media is insufficiently liberal. So when the New York Times published a friendly 8,000-word profile of Rush Limbaugh in its Sunday magazine, it was inevitable that Media Matters' Eric Boehlert would have a conniption over the "squishy-soft . . . puff piece":

For Limbaugh, the ego-stroking profile was quite an achievement: The mighty, and allegedly liberal, New York Times conducted what appeared to be a lengthy, in-depth, and objective profile of Limbaugh and came away very impressed by the titan talker. The Times, quite emphatically, provided its editorial seal of approval to Limbaugh, complete with the f...

Re: Lunchtime

info@spectator.org (Robert Stacy McCain) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 15:57:52 EST

Good point, Jim. I've got to stop borrowing hyperbole without proper attribution....

Re: D.C. Cyclist hit by garbage truck

info@spectator.org (Robert Stacy McCain) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 15:53:28 EST

Bicycling is so ... collegiate. Preppy, if you will. Not my scene.

But you've got a legitimate point about D.C. drivers, J.P. -- the worst I've ever seen. Incapable of understanding such basic terms as "merge" and "yield." The incompetence of the drivers is exceeded only by the wretchedness of the roads, which suffer from perpetual disrepair or haphazard patching that leaves the surface lumpy as mashed potatoes. There are one-traffic-light towns in Alabama with better pavement. And don't even get.me started on the badly-designed Beltway, where drivers have to cut across the on-ramp traffic in order to reach the off-ramp.

If the "easiest mode of transportation" turns out to be a one-way ticket to the morgue, maybe it's a convenience you can do without....

Lunchtime

info@spectator.org (James Antle) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 15:51:27 EST

By the way, I seem to remember someone chastising me for saying Bill Clinton "ate the right's lunch" because the Bushies weren't really the right -- no argument from me there -- and Clinton was only a plurality election winner. So I'm pleased to see that a 53 percent to 37 percent loss in New Hampshire counts as eating Bush 41's lunch.

...

Re: Who's Afraid of Bob Barr?

info@spectator.org (James Antle) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 15:45:26 EST

There's also the not insignificant matter of Ross Perot's moolah. Perot outspent Bush 41 and Bill Clinton in 1992. Barr isn't going to be another Perot, but I'll be awfully surprised if he's another Badnarik. ...

Re: Who's Afraid of Bob Barr?

info@spectator.org (Robert Stacy McCain) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 15:38:58 EST

Everybody keeps making the comparison of Bob Barr to Ross Perot, Jim, but it's important to remember the differences. Perot popped up on the national radar screen much earlier in the cycle than Barr did, and in a much higher-profile way.

Perot announced his candidacy on "Larry King Live" in February 1992, just about the time Pat Buchanan was eating Bush 41's lunch in the New Hampshire primary. Perot was a successful businessman whose basic pitch -- that the government was a fiscal disaster and needed business-like efficiencies to fix it -- resonated with a lot of the same people who had responded to Buchanan's populism.

In 1992, immediately after the Gulf War had made CNN a national phenomenon, Perot's hour-long appearances on "LKL" had a huge impact. And Perot had the huge advantage of running against one of the most unpopular presidents in history, at a time when the unemployment rate was about 8 percent. By May '92, Perot was pol...

D.C. Cyclist hit by garbage truck

info@spectator.org (J.P. Freire) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 15:30:54 EST

This morning at 7:37 a.m., just a few blocks from where I was exercising with a friend, tragedy struck a 22-year old girl:

A 22-year-old bicyclist was struck by a garbage truck and killed just north of Dupont Circle today, authorities said. Police and fire vehicles converged on the scene at 20th and R streets NW, snarling Connecticut Avenue traffic during the morning rush.

D.C. Police this afternoon identified the cyclist as District resident Alice Swanson, although no other details about her were released.

Swanson was struck at 7:37 a.m., D.C. police spokesman Kenny Bryson said. An officer in the uniformed division of the Secret Service was nearby and pulled her from under the truck to administer CPR, said Alan Etter, a spokesman for the D.C. Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services.

She c...

Congress: Even Less Popular Than Bush

info@spectator.org (James Antle) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 15:02:58 EST

And that's really saying something. One poll has Congress's approval rating at 12 percent. Rasmussen has it in single digits, with just 9 percent saying the Congress is doing a "good" or "excellent" job. It sounds remarkable, but it really shouldn't be surprising: the people who voted for the Democrats to end the war, lower energy prices, and expand government health care haven't gotten what they wanted. Those who dislike Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi haven't gotten what they wanted either. So who would approve of this Congress? ...

Re: Love Story

info@spectator.org (J.P. Freire) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 13:31:23 EST

"Hope for a better life, vote for one"?!

At the moment, I'm hoping for a better candidate.
...

Gene Healy, Call Your Office

info@spectator.org (James Antle) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 13:12:22 EST

Don't hope for a better life, vote for one? Cult of the Presidency, indeed....

Love Story

info@spectator.org (Philip Klein) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 12:15:43 EST

John McCain is out with a bio-ish ad with a culture war twist. It starts by contrasting hippies partying during the "summer of love" with McCain "half a world away" displaying "another kind of love -- of country."

...

Risky Fiorina

info@spectator.org (Philip Klein) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 12:06:19 EST

Dana Milbank reports from a Christian Science Monitor breakfast with fromer HP CEO and top McCain economic surrogate Carly Fiorina, and explains why she would be a "risky" VP pick for McCain. She would be a problematic pick because she's never had to run for political office and brings corporate baggage , plus she's a blank slate on most issues that matter to conservatives.
...

Daily Must-Reads

info@spectator.org (Erin Wildermuth) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 12:06:06 EST

McCain steps up on judges

Kissinger on U.S.-Russia relations

It's a little late to rescind Mugabe's honorary degrees

G8 asked to curb their greenhouse gas emissions

Church of England split on women bishops

Serbia goes pro-West

Europe agrees to common immigration pact

...

Who's Afraid of Bob Barr?

info@spectator.org (James Antle) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 11:45:51 EST

Steve Kornacki has a column in the New York Observer arguing that Bob Barr's national poll numbers are "wildly inflated right now" and that there "is really no reason to believe that Barr will do any better than any previous Libertarian candidate." Maybe. As I've said before, third-party challenges from the right have fizzled in recent years so it's not unreasonable to bet against Barr. And with Ralph Nader currently polling better than he actually ran in 2000, much less 2004, it's possible that his current poll numbers are inflated.

Nevertheless, Kornacki's case really isn't as airtight as he seems to think. For one, he points out that Ron Paul didn't effect the outcome of the 1988 presidential race, even though he was a former Republican congressman and there was conser...

Google and Us

info@spectator.org (Editors) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 11:32:07 EST

This note was just posted on our main site:

We have received a number of inquiries regarding the fact that Spectator.org has been designated a "harmful site" by Google, because of outside entities attempting to use our site to distribute malicious software. We have been working with our Web hosting company to address the issue, and believe that it has been resolved and that our site is safe to visit, though there is a lag time before Google can remove the "harmful site" status. In the meantime, if you normally find us via Google, you can still visit us by typing Spectator.org directly into your browser, or by entering our site via Yahoo. Thank you for your understanding.

...

Obama's European Odyssey

info@spectator.org (Robert Stacy McCain) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 07:41:57 EST

The Chicago Tribune reports that Barack Obama will spend at least four days later this month traveling to Europe and the Middle East:

The French news agency Agence France-Press reports that French President Nicolas Sarkozy will meet with Obama at the Elysee Palace on Friday July 25.
In Israel, Obama is expected to arrive on Tuesday July 22 or Wednesday July 23 for a two- or three-day visit to include a meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, which cited a report in the Israeli newspaper Yediot Achronot.

Re: The Barr Factor?

info@spectator.org (Robert Stacy McCain) — Mon, 7 Jul 2008 17:16:34 EST
Violating my own advice to Jim Antle, the latest poll from Georgia:
McCain 46%
Obama 44%
Barr 4%
The Libertarian's percentage is greater than the difference between the Democrat and the Republican. We await the Obama campaign's denunciation of Barr as a "spoiler" who's taking away votes from their candidate....

Re: Rich Lowry, Campaign Consultant

info@spectator.org (Robert Stacy McCain) — Mon, 7 Jul 2008 17:10:53 EST
"He Seems to Need More Help" -- now there's a winning slogan!...

McCain vs. Mount Everest

info@spectator.org (Robert Stacy McCain) — Mon, 7 Jul 2008 17:06:57 EST
Stuart Rothenberg assesses the status of the presidential race:
Given all of this evidence, Obama has a far easier road to the White House than Republican Sen. John McCain (Ariz.). The Illinois Senator merely has to take advantage of the political current, while McCain must swim against it, persuading voters to support him in spite of his party and Bush's performance.
Finally, Obama is a great orator, while McCain is not. The Arizonan has a wonderful story to tell and is a true American hero, but he is not nearly as charismatic as Obama. And he is 71 years old, which does not present an ideal visual contrast with the Democrat.
This isn't a tough climb for McCain -- it's a veritable Mount Everest.
Rothenberg clearly underestimates the value of Rich Lowry's services as a campaign consultant....