Things candidates never want to have to say during a campaign, "I will categorically deny that I ever kidnapped anyone or forced anybody to use drugs,"

I never cared very much about Obama's college transcripts but if this is fair game for a Republican, then it seems college is fair game for everyone. And yes, kidnapping is far more serious than grades but there's no credible allegation here. There's an unnamed source, that's it. At this point it's a joke and deserves to be treated as such.

(I fixed the headline. I can't believe I forgot the Clinton quote)

Posted by: DrewM at 01:39 PM | Comments (192)
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Is this fake? Viral marketing?

Eh... probably. But the girl's too cute.

So if it's fake, it worked. Congratulations.

Thanks to Walrus Rex.

Question about the reality of this: If the girl wanted to say this, why not an email?

Answer: Because you can't see her totally ridiculous hotness in an email.

Sooooo... signs point to fake.

But... she is cute.

Posted by: Ace at 11:47 AM | Comments (277)
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Greg Gutfeld of Red Eye and soon to be proprietor of NYC's first Islamic oriented gay bar was trying to get a comment form Ground Zero mosque organizers about whether or not they welcomed his establishment. You know, because of the tolerance and all.

Their response.

.@greggutfeld You're free to open whatever you like. If you won't consider the sensibilities of Muslims, you're not going to build dialog

You can see more of their responses to Gutfeld and others here .

Now, I'm pretty sure a lot of folks had the same message about the mosque...you can build it but it's not outreach, it's an insult. I seem to recall them getting called 'bigots', 'intolerant' and anti-religious freedom.

I can't wait for Mayor Bloomberg to denounce the anti-gay sentiment behind this lack of respect for gay Americans of all faiths.

Or perhaps, all sensibilities are equal, some are just more equal than others.

Posted by: DrewM at 11:30 AM | Comments (154)
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The JetBlue Guy already gave so much.

So, he got into a dispute with a traveler about his overhead luggage. Words were exchanged.

“To the passenger who called me a m—-f—er, f—- you,” flight attendant Steven Slater ranted over the intercom, passengers said.

“I’ve been in the business 28 years. I’ve had it. That’s it.”

He then grabbed two beers from the galley, popped the emergency door and deployed the emergency chute, slid down the chute, and ran to his car (in a nearby lot).

He was arrested for... well, they didn't have a specific charge for freaking out like a crazyperson so they got him for criminal vandalism.

So, that's what he gave for the Internet.

But, like James Brown pushing away the cape, he's got more show in him.

"I wish we could all quit our jobs like that," said passenger Phil Catelinet, 36, of Brooklyn, who was on the flight and the AirTrain.

"He seemed kind of happy about it. He was like, 'I just quit my job.' "

Port Authority police said it took jetBlue 25 minutes to report the incident, allowing Slater time to leave the scene.

Cops found him in bed with his boyfriend when they arrived to arrest him at a beachfront home in the Rockaways with a porch overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, sources said.

He boasted to skeptical cops that he really did escape by chute with his carry-on luggage.

"Oh, yes, I did! I threw them down first and I went down after," he told cops, sources said.

He was grinning as police walked him in handcuffs to a squad car. "He left with a big smile on his face," said neighbor Curt Karkowski.

Yes, he will have a reality show or an infomercial. It will be called "I've Had It! with Steve "Chutey" Slater."

They aren't kidding about the big smile, either:

Not a big smile there but you can see it. A man at peace.

Not only is he under stress because his mother is dying of lung cancer, but apparently... he took a bit of time off before.

JetBlue would not say how long Slater had worked for the airline, but he wrote on his MySpace page that he was "enjoying being back in the skies" after a five-year break.

A five year break? There is more to this story. That time period sounds suspiciously court-ordered.

Via AllahPundit.

Added [DrewM.]: Taiwanese Animation! more...

Posted by: Ace at 10:50 AM | Comments (189)
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She's not the sort who has a lot of sympathy for women-abusing men.

All night long Levi was trying to get close to Sandra," an award show insider tells me. "He desperately wanted to get his picture taken with Sandra hoping it would show up on the cover of a magazine or at least be able to meet her in person and give America's sweetheart his phone number. Sandra was having none of it, telling everyone, 'Get him away from me.'"

Levi, who clearly has no idea just how smart Sandra actually is, was seen making several futile attempts to catch her eye, all of which failed. Once he realized Sandra was out of his league, Levi was seen approaching at least three other female celebrities who also all refused to have their pictures taken with the fame-obsessed Alaskan.

"Levi's 15 minutes are definitely up but it seems no one has told him that yet," a Hollywood manager tells me. "After what he did to Bristol recently he has gone from being a bad joke to just a bad guy. No one wants to be seen hanging out with him, and leaving everyone to scratch their heads asking how he actually got invited to [the Teen Choice Awards] to begin with."

Hmmm... Hollywood has decided he's a "bad guy"?

You know who this benefits? Andrew Sullivan.

Coming Soon: The Levi Johnston Gay Porn Video.

Via Gabriel again.

Posted by: Ace at 10:14 AM | Comments (82)
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Washington DC's in the business of government, and business is good, baby.

The other two cities only grew in income due to government salaries, too:

Among the 52 MSAs with a population of one million or more, only three had an increase in both net earnings and personal income in 2009 (Washington, D.C.; San Antonio, Texas; and Virginia Beach, Virginia). The biggest gains in compensation in these three MSAs were in the federal government (civilian and military combined). Private sector compensation declined in these three MSAs.

Link this to Christienomics and you're cooking with gas.

Is anyone noticing this? I mean, I know you are; I mean other people.

Are people noticing the $26 billion fresh bailout Obama proposed only goes to state employees? The bill is only there to keep the Democratic Party stimulated -- to prevent angry, base-tearing fights as Democratic pols are finally forced to suggest cuts to government employees' pay.

You know what would happen were that to happen? Armageddon. The public unions would be in riot.

And that's all this $26 billion does -- it permits Democratic governors and state legislators to put this step off for another year or so, keeping the base happy and united.

And for the rest of us...?

Why is it that the government and its highly-protected workers are the only people in the country wholly immunized against this recession? We are jobless or are making far less money, and they continue to get their regularly-scheduled 4% raises every single year.

Is anyone noticing this? Besides us?

Correction: JackM. says I'm wrong about the Base Stimulus Package.

You are a little bit wrong about the $26 billion bailout fund...
in that you don't articulate just how insidious this is. It's
basically a ploy to have the American taxpayers fill up campaign
coffers for Dems.

$10 billion of this money goes to the unions. Before the money gets to
the "teachers" the unions skim off their share of mandatory
"contributions".

The money skimmed by the unions goes directly into the union political
advocacy/footsoldier network to get out votes for Dems.

Morale and contributions for Dems are down this cycle, and Pelosi is
throwing a hail mary pass here. She has to close the enthusiasm gap by
coercing the American taxpayer into footing the bill for Dem
campaigns. It's a money laundering scam.

Unbelievable.

Posted by: Ace at 10:09 AM | Comments (54)
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Charlie Rangel is 80 years old, facing 13 ethics charges and a primary challenge- either of which could end his 40 year House career. In other words, he's the most dangerous guy in the world to a political party on the ropes because he's got nothing to lose.

I caught the last half or so of the long, rambling speech Rangel made on the House floor today that was at times defiant and emotional but never unsure or meek. Rangel made it very clear that if the Democrats in the House thought he'd go quietly and spare them the spectacle of kicking out one of their most senior members (remember until earlier this year he was chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee), they are mistaken.

He basically dismissed any notion that he had done anything wrong, he claimed he never asked for or received "a nickel", accused the bi-partisan House ethics committee of a partisan witch hunt and warned other members that if this kind of railroading (in his mind) could happen to someone as old and awesome as himself, well it could happen to anyone.

In short, it was the kind of speech defense attorneys, political consultants and Democrats in the House dread seeing a guy like Rangel make.

My take away: Rangel to House...Kick me out. If you have the balls.

Needless to say, the GOP quickly accepted this gift with open arms.

“Charlie Rangel might not have been found guilty of ethical misconduct yet, but there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt that he helped build the Democratic majority by padding the campaign war chests of dozens of members of congress with millions of dollars in contributions. It’s official, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ‘most ethical congress in history’ has turned into a three-ring circus.”

And if you have room for dessert...Rangel has just been hit with a new ethics charge.

Most ethical Congress EVAH. Thanks Nancy!

Added: Rangel at one point went through his resume proudly saying he'd spent his entire life in 'public service'. Aside from his time in the Army during the Korean War (for which is he is justly proud and we should be thankful and respectful of), he's spent his whole life sucking at the public teat. He's proud of never having worked in the private sector. That's a disgusting thought for which all supposed "public servants", Democrat and Republican, should be ashamed to admit.

(I changed the headline to make it clear who was speaking about it being a 'trainwreck')

Posted by: DrewM at 10:05 AM | Comments (52)
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Religious intolerance! Racism! Damn Republicans, er Democrats!

New York Gov. David Paterson is offering state help if the developers of a proposed mosque near ground zero agree to move the project farther from the site of the Sept. 11 attack.

He says some state property elsewhere might be suitable.

The Democrat says he understands the resentment many feel against the plan for an Islamic cultural center a few blocks from the World Trade Center site. He says that although the project is protected by the U.S. ConstitutionÂ’s guarantee of religious freedom, New York is still suffering from the attacks.

No word on whether or not it will be a package deal with Greg Gutfeld's Islamic oriented gay bar.

Via Keep America Safe.

Related [ace]: Muslim Woman Speaks Out Against Victory Mosque. (Vid.)

Posted by: DrewM at 09:22 AM | Comments (123)
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She wanted her Chicken McNuggets.

She couldn't have them, because McDonald's was still serving breakfast.

She took this news... poorly. more...

Posted by: Ace at 08:30 AM | Comments (182)
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Pretty much he says that.

And this is archliberal Dana Milbank. And what do I always say? When you've lost Dana Milbank, you've lost Dana Milbank and three or four people Dana Milbank knows.

"You must always remember that the president is about 6."

This advice was offered more than 100 years ago by a British friend of Teddy Roosevelt's. The nation has matured since then, and so has the presidency. Now the president is about 12.

While President Obama's wife and younger daughter were conducting international relations in Majorca on Sunday with Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, the commander in chief was at home hosting a fantasy camp for himself. He and his buddies had a birthday weekend barbecue and basketball game with LeBron James, Alonzo Mourning, Magic Johnson and other legends of the sport.

The day before, it was a four-hour golf outing for Obama and the boys. On Monday, he hosted the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints at the White House and talked about his own exploits on the gridiron last year with Saints quarterback Drew Brees. "He tossed me a nice tight spiral that I then lateraled to a kid on [Dallas Cowboys linebacker] DeMarcus Ware's shoulders," the president recalled. "I also want to point out I beat [Pittsburgh Steelers safety] Troy Polamalu over the middle on that throw." Obama turned to Brees. "You remember?"

Boys will be boys -- even if they're presidents.

It's a good thing Michelle Obama is back from her foreign trip. Otherwise Obama might have already invited the networks to film him playing H-O-R-S-E on the White House basketball court. Oh, wait: He already did that, in the spring, when basketball star and CBS Sports announcer Clark Kellogg shot some televised hoops with him.

According to unofficial presidential statistician Mark Knoller of CBS News, Obama has left the White House to play basketball 16 times so far, in addition to the countless times he has played on his home court. He's shot 44 rounds of golf, gone fishing and played tennis. Total sporting-related events hosted at the White House: 45. That's about six times the number of news conferences he has held.

It goes on like that, too, noting he's already doubled the number of rounds of golf that supposedly golf-mad Bush played in 8 years in office.

Good piece, really.

Via Gabe's Twitter feed.

Posted by: Ace at 08:06 AM | Comments (106)
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