Obvious enough, but it can't be said enough.

I think there is an appalling double standard here. ItÂ’s okay for the Washington Post to run a five thousand word front page story on a prank that Romney, at the age of 15, committed. And yet itÂ’s somehow illegitimate, the low road or whatever, for people to bring up the fact that the adult Obama had a 20-year relationship with a racist anti-American preacher whom he considered, spoke about, wrote about as his mentor and spiritual advisor. That is a double standard unlike any IÂ’ve ever seen.

He thinks it's legitimate, but it would be a tactical mistake for Romney to bring it up:

But today, I would say, tactically it’s a mistake because we know who Obama is. He isn’t the unknown of ‘08. He’s got a record and you don’t have to bring it up. But in principle, if you want to do it, it would be completely legitimate and I think the double standard ought to be denounced rather than accepted as everybody, including Romney, does.

That's a fair distinction, one that I make all the time: You may have a right to do something, but that doesn't mean it's your best option.

He's right that Romney should focus on the economy. And so should Romney's supporters -- we should focus on that.

But that doesn't mean that we -- not Romney, but Obama critics -- shouldn't bring this other business up.

I continue to be flabbergasted that we have Reverend Wright on tape saying that an Obama crony offered him $150,000 to be silent until the election of 2008 and yet many on the right seem unaware of this.

On the left, sure, I'd get it. Cocooning, partisan bias.

Why is the right unaware of this?

This is breaking news, new news. You can say many aspects of the Wright relationship are old news and already baked into the cake, but not this payoff business. This just came out last week.

Of course it's relevant. And it reminds us of the Chicago Way of dirty politics, which Mr. Hope and Change seems to be a master of.

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-baker/2012/05/17/krauthammer-slams-media-s-appalling-double-standard-teenage-romney-v-ob#.T7XxdWKbyOI.twitter#ixzz1vF2sCAdH

Posted by: Ace at 09:06 AM | Comments (169)
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The following comes from two emails I sent the cob loggers last September. I thought I was being dumb about Facebook's business model, so I didn't turn them into a post then. But now people are questioning the value of the stock offering.

Facebook is going to have an IPO eventually worth, I've heard, $100 billion dollars. Why? Why is it valuable? Because they can target advertising to people? How is that ability worth that kind of money?

First, advertisers already have sophisticated ways to learn who their buyers are. Granted, their surveys aren't as detailed, but they move products to the right people. Especially because of the following...

Second, advertising is done en masse. Very little of it is targeted to individuals, and most of that would have to be via computer. I suspect most people stomp on that kind of advertising with with adware and spamware.

Third, this "Facebook is so very valuable" religion that is centered on information is starting to remind me of the hype surrounding chaos theory and complexity. For several years, everybody agreed chaos theory was a Totally Awesome Thing, but no one actually knew what it was or what it was good for. Its value wasn't intrinsic; it was based on social pressure. Everyone had faith we would soon find these awesome uses. And anyone who questioned the religion, say, at a complexity seminar was treated as if they had farted in an elevator. Questions like, "What can be done with this?" And "Does anyone have any empirical data that shows something complexity theory can prove?"

So the reputed value of Facebook has the feel of another one of those religiously-held social beliefs. The reality is, it's just people chatting on the internet.

Why is knowing what toothpaste individuals prefer so valuable? Don't we know what toothpaste people generally want already? If we need more detailed information, don't we already have ways of finding out? You know, like marketing companies, surveys, and actual sales data?

Posted by: rdbrewer at 08:44 AM | Comments (134)
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From the book, Dreams From Bill Ayers' Father:

The scene is Chicago, in front of Obama's apartment. A group of unruly young black men pulls up outside after midnight, music blasting. He has a guest in his apartment, and his neighbors have just brought home their newborn. He gets upset and goes outside to tell them off.

Then he starts to think: They could be me from just a few years ago. And they might intend him harm. Then, finally, he considers how he -- a grown up with a job and a life -- is increasingly unlike these kids, and how they may never have the chance to mature the way he did:

Their unruly maleness will not be contained, as mine finally was, by a sense of sadness at an older man's injured pride. Their anger won't be checked by the intimation of danger that would come upon me whenever I split another boy's lip or raced down a highway with gin clouding my head.

He also chuckled at making Mexican maids cry.

Barack Hussein Obama

All liquored up & trashing the place.

Like Led Zeppelin, except you don't want to go to his shows.

Update: Obama's Literary Agent Requested Authors Submit Their Own Bios. Breitbart.com is killing it.

Submission guidelines at the Dystel & Goderich website (original emphasis): "[Y]ou should describe in two or three sentences—no more—what the book will be about. This is followed by another brief paragraph on why it is being written and then another on why you are qualified to write it....Finally, there should be a more formal narrative Bio of the author."

How does Breitbart know this? The source of the article is an author who was also with Obama's agency -- he's quoting from the materials the agency sent him.

All material she used in our proposals came directly from me and my writing partner. She edited our rough-draft proposals and gave us feedback, but the final versions were all ours. Our final versions, bio included, were then simply photo-copied, by us, and distributed to potential publishers. This was back in the pre-Google days, recall.

I was asked to write the bio in the third person.

We seem to be going from "Rara Avis who actually writes his own stuff" to "Guy who completely checked out and let other people handle it for him."

And Still More: The bio was updated, corrected, and republished multiple times. For example, it was updated to include the new title of Obama's book.

And yet "Born in Kenya" remained.

Posted by: Ace at 08:15 AM | Comments (288)
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Posted by: andy at 08:04 AM | Comments (71)
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If you missed it somehow, the Facebook IPO is today.

Not sure I buy the business model and it seems like all the current owners can't wait to get through the exit door. I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole, but that's just me.

Government Motors poured some cold water on the company by pulling a $10 million ad buy, saying the paid ads didn't work, but Ford told GM, "u r doin' it rong". Who knows?

I've never clicked an ad there, and I honestly don't recall ever really noticing one. How about you?

Posted by: andy at 02:30 AM | Comments (660)
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Why Class Warfare Fails in the US

Because it turns out that a strong majority of Americans don't mind the rich and would like to join them one day.

And the percentages haven't really changed in over twenty years which leads to continual consternation among leftists who are always convinced there's a huge hidden appetite for class warfare among the American proletariat just waiting for the right candidate to tap into.

Plus Your Government Hard at Work:

Yes - You Can Legally Hunt Bigfoot (in some states)

No - Illegal Aliens Can't Own Guns

And Yes - We're Totally Willing To Share Movie Profits With Drug Dealers

(note that they were smart enough to get paid upfront rather than through the usual Hollywood Accounting rules)

Posted by: Maetenloch at 05:25 PM | Comments (969)
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On the high of a growing projected lead for Walker, enormous GOP enthusiasm, and an incresingly-depressed Democratic party, it is easy to overlook a few things. Or remembering to smack them down.

1- A heightened effort against the Lt Governor. This race remains very, very close, with the few Democrats who have abandoned the fight against Walker now focusing on this one. If the numbers reverse into her challenger's favor, more Democrats could potentially show, and close the top ticket race up. However, the overall trend is depression on the Dem end, elation on the Rs, so it would take an all-in against her to have such a damaging effect.

2- A John Doe investigation "surprise". Since the investigator is a Democrat, and this has been talked about at length by Democrats already, a last minute indictment may move the race by only a point or two. Wait too late (like the last week) and its political nature looks even more obvious, backfiring and hurting Barrett. Barrett has tomorrow and next week to pull such a trick out. Even then, the politcal nature of those involved, and Marquette polling showing more voters think it's politics and not serious (among those who already know about it), makes this "last straw to grasp" a weak one.

3- The DNC changes its mind and decides to go after Walker, caving into liberal group and blog pressure. Not very likely, but could boost Barrett.

4- Fraud. If the race isn't close, it won't matter. If Barrett reverses the trend, the last stand against it would be having pollwatchers.

5- The students of UW. If enough of them actually managed to file for absentees properly, they could help Barrett, but from the news I have gathered, that isn't likely. Their absence may even shrink the advantage Barrett will enjoy in Dane, not nearly enough to flip it but to make any hope of winning impossible.

On a more serious note, I visit quite a few election prediction sites and forums frequently, and came across several leftists who feel they have uncovered something ugly: everyone who has released a poll, or story about high R/low R turnout, or admitted disgust with the constant recalls, has been part of the Walker Agenda. Silly, said I.

But the more I thought about it, I realized how wrong we all have been. Dave Weigel, Greg Sargent, Scott Rasmussen, We Ask America's management, Tom Jensen of PPP, Markos Moulitsas, Marquette University, Professor Charles Franklin, and Professor Jonathan Zimmerman are clearly struggling to walk around with their pockets stuffed full of Koch cash. It's so obvious, it doesn't even require a cerebrum to reach such an obvious conclusion. We should all applaud the brave souls born with a stump-topped nervous system for uncovering this grave injustice.

Posted by: CAC at 03:07 PM | Comments (176)
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But let's lock Zimmerman up because "justice," at least of the "racial" subcategory, demands it.

Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old who was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer, had the drug THC in his system the night of this death, according to new information obtained by ABC News.

...

The autopsy report shows traces of the drug THC, which is found in marijuana, in Martin's blood and urine.

The autopsy also shows that Zimmerman shot Martin from a distance of between 1 inch and 18 inches away, bolstering Zimmerman's claim that he shot Martin during a struggle that landed Zimmerman on his back, Martin straddling him and banging Zimmerman's head on the ground.

Martin's autopsy report also revealed that there was a quarter-inch by half-inch abrasion on the left fourth finger of Martin, another indication of a possible struggle. The teen, who lived in Miami, was in Sanford while serving a suspension for a bag of marijuana being discovered in his possession.

Duke Lacrosse Part Two.

Posted by: Ace at 02:23 PM | Comments (453)
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What does all this mean? Don't know, but facts are facts.

According to archive.org, a website that caches websites on a regular basis, the Dystel.com website – the official website for Dystel & Goderich, Obama’s literary agents – was using the Barack Obama “born in Kenya” language until April 2007, just two months after then-Senator Obama declared his campaign for the presidency.

Roger Simon, an author, talks to Jack Cashill, another author, about author bios.

Do authors get to view, correct, and rewrite their bios before being printed up?

Of course. more...

Posted by: Ace at 01:01 PM | Comments (511)
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After three straight polls released showing Walker ahead and Republicans hyper-mobilized, this week's projection shows an expanding lead for the Governor, now slightly larger than what he enjoyed in 2010. Barrett has failed to see any bounce from the primary, the DNC has refused to kick him cash, a positive jobs report was pushed out a month early and a deficit report friday sank the "Wisconsin is still in the hole" meme. To recap the polling numbers, Daily Kos' PPP poll showed Walker up 50-45, We Ask America showed him up 52-43, and Marquette University shows him up 50-44. Plugging in the numbers and taking enthusiasm levels into acount, here is the latest from the Ace of Spades HQ Decision Desk:

Posted by: CAC at 12:52 PM | Comments (54)
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