Once upon a time Marco Rubio swore he was against amnesty (which he said was the same as "comprehensive reform"). Then he joined a Senate gang and discovered the joys of bi-partisanship. Now he's against it. Again. For now anyway.

Of course the danger of the piecemeal approach is what bills get moved. Will it be the GOP's version of the DREAM Act (yes, they have one) or an enforcement bill? Of course the piecemeal approach also raises the danger of what would happen in conference with the Senate.

Rubio's spokesman says, don't worry about that.

“At this point, the most realistic way to make progress on immigration would be through a series of individual bills,” Rubio spokesman Alex Conant said in an email. “Any effort to use a limited bill as a ruse to trigger a conference that would then produce a comprehensive bill would be counterproductive. Furthermore, any such effort would fail, because any single senator can and will block conference unless such conference is specifically instructed to limit the conference to only the issue dealt with in the underlying bill.”

Mickey Kaus wonders if the GOP and conservatives should forgive Rubio. Personally, I'm done with Rubio. Actions matter more than words. He used to talk a good game but when it came time to act, he stood with Durbin, Schumer, Menendez, McCain and Graham. He simply can't be trusted on this or any other issue.

And it doesn't look like Republicans in New Hampshire are all that interested in Rubio at this point.

Meanwhile, the uphill climb faced by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio—who has fallen off in early state polling following his full-throated push for comprehensive immigration reform—was demonstrated by his 4 percent showing in the survey.

RubioÂ’s showing was only good enough for a tie with former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who is not expected to be competitive in New Hampshire, if he runs again.

He was up to 25% at one point. And then...immigration. But remember, real GOP voters want amnesty. Team Amnesty has the polls to prove it. Or something.

Rubio has shown himself to be a liar and a bad politician. Time to move on from him.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:29 AM | Comments (443)
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• "I Was All For Obamacare Until I Found Out I Was Paying For It"
  
• 500,000 Californians To Lose Health Policies
  
• Data Center Glitch The Latest Problem With Obamacare Rollout
  
• Steyn: Obamacare's Magical Thinkers
  
• Mike Rowe's Response To Someone Who Criticized Him For Going On Glenn Beck's Show
  
• Cooke: Rosamond's Country
  
• 60 Minutes Does Hard Hitting Benghazi Story Well After The 2012 Election
  
• Suggesting Young Women Not Binge Drink Is Apparently A War On Women
  
• The Koch Brothers: Always The Story, Even When They Aren't
  
• It Is Possible That More People Have Lost Coverage Than Signed Up For Obamacare
  
• The End Of Anti-biotics?
  
• Feminism And The Razing Of A Village
  
• Syrian Troops Retake Christian Town From Jihadis
  
• CBS Doesn't Know The Difference Between J. Edgar Hoover And Herbert Hoover
  
• Obama Claims To Have No Knowledge Of Spying On World Leaders
  
• Obama Knew Of NSA Spying On Merkel
  
• NFL Defends Its Non-Profit Status
  
• Another Great Moment In Art School History
  
• Shaq Endorses Chris Christie
  
• OSU Band Has Awesome Halftime Show
  

Do these pants effectively hide my thunder?

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 05:34 AM | Comments (132)
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I expended most of my good DOOM ammo last week plugging holes in the leaky tub we call Ace of Spades HQ, so today I can only bring the dregs from the grog barrel. Gather 'round, me hearties, and hark ye to the tale of this sad buccaneer!

ObamaCare: Another day, another colossal failure. I haven't watched TV in weeks - this ObamaCare debacle has provided more entertainment value than any TV show I can think of. Watching Democrats squirm, point fingers, deny responsibility, and blame everything on a recalcitrant GOP has been...what's the word? Delicious.

Italy: a cautionary tale for America. But really, the same could be said for France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, or England. Some of the problem is a spiritual vacuum -- Europeans don’t believe in God any more, and nothing much has come in to fill the void. Socialism, as a creed, doesn’t do much to stiffen the spine or compel one to look to the future with a hopeful eye. Also, on the point about garbage not getting picked up in Rome -- that’s how you know the Republic is falling. Never mind the political shenanigans or national debt; to gauge the health of a country, look at the utilities. Is the power on? Do the streetlights work? Does the trash get picked up? Is local law enforcement reliable and effective? The fall of (ancient) Rome was once described as “the death of comfort” as everyday comforts that Romans had grown used to withered away because the government lost the ability to keep things running.

Detroit declares war on math, loses.

Speaking of Motown, you can add a new chorus of voices in Detroit to those who are shocked, shocked, that His Majesty the King may have been lying about how wonderful this ObamaCare program was going to be.

Illinois governor Pat Quinn: "You know what we need to give our already-overpaid public sector workforce? Another $100 million! Dig deep, peasants citizens!"
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Posted by: Monty at 04:36 AM | Comments (141)
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Happy Monday.

The Obamacare website went down yesterday due to some kind of network failure that was immediately blamed on a contractor.

What most of ya'll know about the health insurance "death spiral" that the President either doesn't know or doesn't want to mention yet.

Speaking of things the President doesn't know, there's a report that Obama was unaware that the NSA was targeting foreign leaders like German Chancelor Angela Merkel. There's also a report that Obama was aware of the spying, but let's be honest: given this Administrations SOP, Obama didn't know, didn't want to know, and wouldn't be told about it until it was going to be in the papers. See also: every scandal of this White House.

The Atlantic has a piece: "One Chart That Explains Why McDonald's Killed the Dollar Menu." It's good, but not as good as our own John E.'s more succinct explanation:
more...

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 02:47 AM | Comments (199)
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Howdy, 'Rons n' 'Ettes. This is your ol' buddy Damn Dirty RINO. I'd like to tell you about an ol' bunch of foxhounds I got: Ol' Ring, and ol' Tige and ol' Rover. And we start out across them Georgia hills a-huntin' them fox, it sounds somethin' like this.

Seriously, though, I'm just stepping in for Maet while he's out finalizing the adoption papers on some Chinese kid named Hai Wei. Apparently, the process is rather travel-intensive, as it requires him to spend a lot of time on the road. And, from what I gather, he has plans to adopt all the child's siblings as well, since he mentioned something about picking up the litter. It's an odd way to refer to a family, for sure. But, you know, that's Maet. I wish him well.

Speaking of child-rearing, one of the great challenges facing parents in the age of tweets and text messages is ensuring that their children are able to communicate with the written word. "You are" has been replaced with the shorthand "UR". "I don't know" has become "idk", and so on. It's convenient and time-saving in an age of instant and constant interaction, but the over-reliance on abbreviations has a way of robbing both the reader and the writer of the ability to clearly elucidate their thoughts according to universal standards among people who speak the same language.

Fortunately, 'Rons n' 'Ettes are a uniquely perspicacious lot who stress reading at an early age to their children. And, thankfully, there are still publishing houses who cater to the needs of such families.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 06:30 PM | Comments (443)
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Banksy's rejected New York Time op-ed

However, the NY Post dared to (re)print it. There's nothing in the aborted Banksy Op-Ed about One WTC that already hasn't been said by a lot of people grumbling on blogs for many years now. In fact, its a rather straight forward reiteration of the patently obvious, juiced with a bit of artistic emotion one might expect from an artist.

The NYT has certainly printed more inflammatory, critical, and less factual Op-Ed's in the past than this one. Why this one would suffer the indignity of scissors and the cutting room floor only makes you furiously ponder from whence such pressure to excise came?

Have things become so bad that the voices of foreign critics must be silenced as well as domestic?

I haven't a clue as to Banksy's political bent, gender, or even species. He/she/it may be a flaming redder than Chairman Mao commie for all I know, but I know this -- I'll trade you a 100 Piers Morgans for one Banksy willing to say the Emperor has no cloths.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 10:37 PM | Comments (35)
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Good evening, Morons and Moronettes. I'm tmi3rd, and Maetenloch is working on his wood chipper this eveningÂ… it fouled up when he tried to stuff too many hoboes into it, and heÂ’s got to hurry up if heÂ’s going to make good hobo sausage before the meat gets too ripe. So, if youÂ’ll permit me, letÂ’s do dis...

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Posted by: Open Blogger at 06:11 PM | Comments (499)
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Cards v. Sox.

Also, Packers v. Vikings.

And elbows. Below the fold. more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:13 PM | Comments (135)
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Its this style of song that continued to draw me over the years. It ain't pretty, or clever, or an anthem, but it cut to the harsh reality of life like a scalpel. Lou had a few horrible stinkers, but when he was good, he was very very good.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 02:30 PM | Comments (283)
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Do you like meat? Check.
Do you like women? Check check.

Bzzzz. Wrong answer! You don't get to fancy both. At least according to one Carol J. Adams, "author" and lecturer at the University of Redlands in California. Ms. Adams is hosting a lecture entitled 'The Sexual Politics of Meat'. The Sexual. Politics. Of. Meat. Saying aloud doesn't make it any less absurd. more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 04:25 PM | Comments (298)
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