He notes the window of opportunity to declare is closing. I still think it's got a ways to close, but point taken.

Are there no ambitious Republicans serving at the state level in South Carolina?

Posted by: Ace at 03:58 PM | Comments (16)
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There's hardly any sin in selecting the dumb-as-dirt Spanish language soap operas over the dumb-as-dirt English language TV fare. But, unlike as with previous cohorts of immigrants, Hispanic immigrants seem to enjoy a spectrum of counter-inducemements to learning English and adopting it as one's native tongue. Or, if not counter-inducements per se, at least counter-ameliorations. Previous cohorts of immigrants, legal and illegal, had to learn English if they wished to function outside their immigrant-dominated neighborhoods. That's not really the case now.

To be honest, I'm really just straining to come up with an excuse to link this. Because what really shocks me about this survey is that while whites have CSI, CSI: Miami, and CSI: NY all in their top ten choices, blacks only have room for one CSI show -- CSI: NY.

Are they retarded? You can't even say it's because one has a strong black lead, because Warrick on CSI is all sorts of dreamy. How the hell can black people, or any people, favor CSI: NY over CSI? CSI: NY doesn't even have the inadvertant entertainment value of David Caruso.

I think black people have to assimilate more. Stop watching that bizzarely off-kilter CSI: NY -- half over-the-top lurid ridiculousness, half soporific snoozefest -- and start watching CSI like real patriotic Americans.

Seriously, black people. I understood why Family Matterrs show was always at the top of the black ratings; 1, black sitcom, 2, Urkel. But this? Simply baffling.

Posted by: Ace at 03:41 PM | Comments (11)
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Turns out a court case argued by leftist douchebag Ron Kuby already established that it was "discriminatory" to forbid of women what is not forbidden of men, i.e., showing breasts.

It seems to not have occurred to the liberal NY judges that men do not in fact even have breasts. Go figure liberal NY men never grokked on to that.

Pillage Idiot quotes from the absurd court opinions. I wonder if women will now be allowed to show their vaginas in public, too, since there is no law against men exposing their vaginas.

Click for NYP article, not nearly as good as Pillage Idiot's,
but if I'm taking their pic I guess I have to shoot them a link

Posted by: Ace at 03:14 PM | Comments (24)
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Following the Reid/Murtha plan of hunting down and killing terrorists. I can't imagine how happy they must be!

With the influx of tens of thousands of additional combat troops into Iraq now complete, American forces have begun a wide offensive against Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia on the outskirts of Baghdad, the top American commander in Iraq said Saturday.

The commander, Gen. David H. Petraeus, in a news conference in Baghdad along with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, said the operation was intended to take the fight to Al QaedaÂ’s hide-outs in order to cut down the groupÂ’s devastating campaign of car bombings.

The comments by General Petraeus were a signal that the United States military had yet again entered a new phase in Iraq, four months after the start of the so-called troop surge and a security plan focused on dampening sectarian violence within Baghdad. They reflected an acknowledgment that more has to be done beyond the cityÂ’s bounds to halt a relentless wave of insurgent attacks that have undercut attempts at political reconciliation.
...

The new emphasis on attacking the insurgent cells and bomb-making factories outside the capital is expected to be a sustained one, involving tough fighting. But creating lasting effects from such pushes has been challenging; in the past, insurgents have repeatedly been driven from one location only to resurface in another.
...

The decision to mount more attacks in the Sunni belts is a trade-off in a military sense because it will limit the number of American forces available to secure neighborhoods in the capital. General Petraeus appeared to allude to that on Saturday.

“There has never been a military commander in history who wouldn’t like to have more of something or other,” he said.

Michael Yon emails Instapundit to tell him the Times understates the size of the offensive: "Nobody realizes just how big this is."

Posted by: Ace at 03:02 PM | Comments (14)
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Happy Father's Day to all the fathers. And for the non-fathers, call your father.

Posted by: Ace at 01:09 PM | Comments (15)
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The right still cruises to victory, but actually will have fewer seats than it had in the last parliament.

According to estimates by the TNS/Sofres-Unilog institute, based on a partial vote count, Sarkozy's conservative Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and its allies will hold 345 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly. Of these, the UMP will hold an estimated 323 seats, with another 22 going to its centrist allies, the New Centre.

However, the results are disappointing for Sarkozy, as they represent a net loss of about 35 seats for the UMP compared to the number the party held in the outgoing National Assembly.

In addition, the opposition Socialist Party gained an estimated 57 seats, to 206. The entire French Left, including the Green and Communist parties, will now dispose of 228 seats, 55 more than they had in the preceding National Assembly.

Following last Sunday's first round, all polls had predicted a landslide victory for the conservatives, with estimates showing them grabbing between 410 and 501 seats.

In perhaps the biggest upset of the night, the conservative government's number two, Environment Minister Alain Juppe, was defeated by his Socialist opponent, Michèle Delaunay, in Bordeaux.

Dang. Would have been nice just to see the left throw a tantrum.

Posted by: Ace at 12:49 PM | Comments (10)
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This is undoubtedly the creepiest photoshop I've ever created.

I find it amusing that once again, Trent Lott has made himself the poster boy for everything wrong with America's political class. Of course, not everyone in the Senate is a power-hungry, amoral, pork-loving elitist like Lott, but far too many of them seem perfectly willing to ignore the fact that most Americans simply do not like the specifics of this bill.

Glenn Beck made an interesting point on his show Friday. He said the debate over this bill represents a battle not between the right and left, but between the political class and the American voter. I think he's on to something. Given the level of anger this bill has created, it's hard to believe most members of Congress do not know where their constituents stand. And yet the bill lives.

Congress has gotten our message. They're just ignoring it.

Posted by: Slublog at 07:10 PM | Comments (169)
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Instapundit discusses the fact that the Bush Administration Republican Party has been warned repeatedly about which bad policies were actually going to cost it support -- and entire elections -- but has studiously ignored this data.

Do they want whining from Michael Chertoff and Trent Lott to form the public image of the Bush Administration and the Republican Party?

Apparently they do. Good luck with that, guys. The political press can run with stories about bloggers being in full revolt over immigration, but it's not really a case of bloggers vs. the Administration. Rather, it's a case -- like Harriet Miers, Dubai Ports, PorkBusters, etc. -- of the Bush Administration ignoring the clear warnings available in the blogosphere. And once again, it's not just bloggers who think the Administration is crazy. So far, every time they've done that they've had their head handed to them. That'll happen this time, too, and if they should happen to "win" and pass their bill, the consequences for the GOP will be even worse. "Bizarre Republican Death Wish?" Indeed.

As I've said before, it's not that bloggers should be read and heeded because we're all so damn smart. No, not at all. Some of us are certifiable morons.

It's that blogs actually do, somewhat accurately, reflect public opinion. And better than polls, too, at least in this respect: While a poll might tell you that sixty-nine percent of the public is against this amnesty-without-security bill and only 20% in favor, that piece of information is, by itself, not terribly meaningful politically. Why? Because the public is against a lot of things, but doesn't really care about them. On many issues -- like bankruptcy reform -- you can probably afford to defy public preferences and give a sop to banks and creditors, because while the public may not support such "reform," neither is it politically animated about it. You can ignore public opinion because public opinion simply isn't very strong. No one's losing votes over the bankruptcy bill.

But sometimes citizens are so incensed about an issue they are actually animated to change their voting (and donating, volunteering, etc.) behavior based on a politician's position on that issue. It's not just numbers, it's intensity; and while some polls do indeed query about intensity, blogs and comments left by voting citizens are important gauge of such intensity.

Anecdotal evidence, merely? They say that the plural of "anecdote" is not "data." But when the number of anecdotes becomes sufficiently high, the plural of anecdote is indeed high. There are hundreds of thousands of blog readers on the right, by far the dominant position on amensty-without-security is opposition, and, further -- you can tell just by skimming comments -- almost all of the passion and intensity and likelihood of changing voter behavior based on the issue is there too.

There are supporters of the Grand Bargain on the right -- but they're not terribly passionate about it. They favor it, but then, they're not really reaching for pitchforks and torches if it fails.

There's little doubt that those opposed to amensty-without-security are, in fact, preparing to storm the castle.

Want more data? Listen to the ankle-biting dog who never yapped. The left of the blogosphere is radio silent on this issue. Even those one would expect to support it do not, apparently, support it quite enough to bother writing a single paragraph about it. Maybe they support, maybe they don't, who knows? Most likely they're just ultrapartisans who only care about the issue to the extent it tears up the Republican Party, but, whatever their reasons, they're not actually animated over the issue to even bother taking a public position on it.

(And, in fact, many on the left are actually against the bill too -- and those folks actually do write long, scathing critiques of the bill. So, once again, all the actual intensity is against the bill.)

This information is out there. It's public. We bloggers and blog commenters and talk show hosts and talk show callers aren't exactly trying to keep it secret.

Quite the opposite: We are desperately attempting to get the attention of the Republican Party (and, also, the establishment Democrats willing to sell out sovereignty and blue-collar workers for some votes from "newcomers"). We are collectively pleading with you: Do not do this, or we will be forced to vote against you or sit out the next election, and yes, indeed, we are quite serious about this. This is the Rubicon, the last straw, the ultimate insult, the final nerve.

But they're not listening. Useless humps like Trent Lott are so used to legislating in secret and without public scrutiny that they've come to believe that doing so is their actual right, and that democratic pressure from the public is some sort of usurpation of the Divine Right of Legislators.

I will say it again: Do. Not. Do. This. If You Value. Your Political Lives. Don't consider it a threat; consider it an intervention.

Posted by: Ace at 02:23 PM | Comments (119)
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Tune in, it looks good. Nifong is suitably chastened, almost to the point of eliciting sympathy.

Almost.

Just heard the panel chairman Williamson say that many had an "unquestioning faith in what the prosecuting attorney told them, which made them look foolish, and makes them still look foolish to this day."

Group of 88, NYT, various sports-radio liberal douchebags asserting "something must have happened," vindictive who-cares-if-they're-guilty-they're-guilty-of-having-penises feminists:

He's talking to you fools.

You were chumped. Bamboozled. And that's bad enough -- ultimately excusable; who doesn't err from time to time -- but you continue to believe this jackassery.

You Can't Quit, You're Fired: Allah speculated, sagely, that Nifong had announced his "acceptance" of disbarment in an effort to forestall the Bar panel from actually imposing the penalty themselves. An attempt at face-saving-- he could escape having the penalty imposed on him by self-imposing it.

They weren't buying.

He offered up his law license; they decided to demand it from him anyway.

Posted by: Ace at 01:29 PM | Comments (35)
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UPDATE: His attorney announced Nifong would "accept disbarment."

Accept it? Did he have a choice? Was there a deal? I don't think the bar can immunize one against criminal or civil penalties.

Maybe the lawyer just means he will not contest it. That seems likely.

Indeed, that seems to be the case. I was in a rush and didn't get to read all of KC Johnson's very short post -- he has waived the right to appeal the decision. So there's no deal, he's just "accepting" it by waiving his right to not contest it.

Older News:

AP-DukeLacrosseURGENT take2 06-16 0037
AP-Duke Lacrosse URGENT, take 2

A disciplinary committee has found that Nifong broke numerous rules of professional conduct during his disastrous prosecution of three lacrosse players falsely accused of rape.

Thanks to tmi3rd.

Not As "Breaking" As I First Posted: ABCNews already has an article up about it.

Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong has been found guilty by the North Carolina State Bar for a battery of ethics violations in the Duke Lacrosse case.

The penalty phase of trial began Saturday afternoon. Nifong's punishment could range from a written reprimand to disbarment. He already announced Friday his intention to resign as district attorney.

It took months for the bar to move on this, but one has to admit, when they move, they slice like a fucking hammer.

Posted by: Ace at 12:43 PM | Comments (14)
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