He hasn't declared Open Blog. But, maybe my mocking of the Islamotard will stay his hand.

Posted by: Open Blog at 11:04 PM | Comments (37)
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Norman Hsu's original three-year sentence for fraud was affirmed today by a California superior court judge. His amusing attempt at having the conviction thrown out was to claim that his right to a speedy trial was violated when authorities failed to apprehend him in a timely fashion after he jumped bail.

Federal authorities are bringing a new case against him for mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the Federal Election Campaign Act in New York. He also can look forward to more scrutiny as his money-gathering activities on behalf of the Democrats get more attention.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 10:02 PM | Comments (9)
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This, I believe, is what's known as a 'gaffe.'

His aides are wary of New Hampshire. "It's all no tax, no government there," said Bob Wickers, a top strategist. "It's not ideal."

Zombie Reagan, we need you now more than ever.

Update - Freemediapalooza!

Actually, getting free national media right before a primary you're going to lose is a shrewd move. The self-promotion is strong in this one.

Posted by: Slublog at 09:23 PM | Comments (42)
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As they say, go read it all. I don't even know how to excerpt this without ruining it.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 09:08 PM | Comments (37)
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Hillary booed in New Hampshire.

By comparison Hillary was twice booed. The first time was when she said she has always and will continue to work for "change for you. The audience, particularly from Obama supporters (they were waving Obama signs) let out a noise that sounded like a thousand people collectively groaning.

Something tells me she might not win New Hampshire.

Related [Gabe]: Clinton's campaign spent the day in damage-control conference calls:

Outsiders continued to question whether Clinton should have run on a message of inevitability, and some said they had privately urged the campaign to take a more humble approach. "It's the inevitability thing that's hurt her so much. There's an arrogance that comes from the message that 'I'm inevitable,' " said a Clinton supporter and White House veteran, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Just as the Clinton team sought to reassure staff members Thursday night, top campaign advisers -- including former president Bill Clinton -- convened a conference call Friday morning to soothe members of Congress who have endorsed her campaign.

The message to the lawmakers was that the campaign will tweak the message to focus on equal parts experience and how to effect change. "It requires experience to bring change," Howard Wolfson, Clinton's top communications adviser, told the lawmakers, according to one participant in the call.

But, according to two people who listened to the former president and the aides, the Clinton team is also trying to dramatically play down the importance of the caucuses' result, contending it was a home-turf win for Obama since he hails from a neighboring state.

A little more of this and she's going to start losing folks. I'm probably too gleeful about it than is warranted at this stage. But, really, it couldn't happen to a nicer ladywhatever.

Posted by: Slublog at 08:59 PM | Comments (33)
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In 2006, legacy media and lefty blogs went wild over the Jack Abramoff scandals. In fact, in addition to the Iraq War, congressional scandal was one of the top issues on the minds of voters that year, and Department of Justice investigations were tearing through senators' offices.

The senator from Montana, Conrad Burns, was one target of the Abramoff investigation. On Wednesday, he announced that the DOJ has dropped the investigation; no criminal charges will be filed.

Burns said, "I understand that politics is a contact sport and what sustained me through this was my unyielding faith in the system." He also added that, "during this era of political character assassination used for pure political gain, I hope good men and women will continue to step forward and serve. Phyllis and I are enjoying our new life in Montana and Washington, DC with our family and friends. We shall be eternally grateful for their unwavering support and faith."

[...]

Montana State University-Billings Political Science Professor Craig Wilson said Burns lost his Senate seat by a paper-thin margin. "If this would've been known prior to the election, it could have changed the outcome," said Dr. Wilson.

I'll say. Burns was a three-term incumbent in 2006. He lost by only 3,562 votes out of 400,000 cast, a difference of less than a percentage point.

All is not lost, Kos Kids. The WaPo article on this helpfully points out that three Republican congressmen are still being investigated (Doolittle, Feeney, DeLay).

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:17 PM | Comments (10)
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Iowa elects a bumpkin naif and now the Pentagon fires a top expert on Islamic extremism, because he "offended" (shocker, that) a Muslim.

tephen Coughlin, the Pentagon specialist on Islamic law and Islamist extremism, has been fired from his position on the military's Joint Staff. The action followed a report in this space last week revealing opposition to his work for the military by pro-Muslim officials within the office of Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England.

...

He had run afoul of a key aide to Mr. England, Hasham Islam, who confronted Mr. Coughlin during a meeting several weeks ago when Mr. Islam sought to have Mr. Coughlin soften his views on Islamist extremism.

Mr. Coughlin was accused directly by Mr. Islam of being a Christian zealot or extremist "with a pen," according to defense officials. Mr. Coughlin appears to have become one of the first casualties in the war of ideas with Islamism.

...

Misguided Pentagon officials, including Mr. Islam and Mr. England, have initiated an aggressive "outreach" program to U.S. Muslim groups that critics say is lending credibility to what has been identified as a budding support network for Islamist extremists, including front groups for the radical Muslim Brotherhood.

Mr. Coughlin wrote a memorandum several months ago based on documents made public in a federal trial in Dallas that revealed a covert plan by the Muslim Brotherhood, an Egyptian-origin Islamist extremist group, to subvert the United States using front groups. Members of one of the identified front groups, the Islamic Society of North America, has been hosted by Mr. England at the Pentagon.

Ah yes, courting phony "moderate" groups which are really nothing more than mouthpieces for jihadists.

Well, it's worked cracker-jack in England, might as well try it here.

I guess it's over, eh?

American Dhimmocracy. Catch the fever.

Thanks to someone.

Posted by: Ace at 04:01 PM | Comments (56)
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Killed in Iraq, but blogging a previously written post to be published in the event of his death. It's eerie.

He died a hero. Read the whole thing.

This is an entry I would have preferred not to have published, but there are limits to what we can control in life, and apparently I have passed one of those limits....

As with many bloggers, I have a disgustingly large ego, and so I just couldn't bear the thought of not being able to have the last word if the need arose. Perhaps I take that further than most, I don't know. I hope so. It's frightening to think there are many people as neurotic as I am in the world. In any case, since I won't get another chance to say what I think, I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. Such as it is.

...

What I don't want this to be is a chance for me, or anyone else, to be maudlin. I'm dead. That sucks, at least for me and my family and friends. But all the tears in the world aren't going to bring me back, so I would prefer that people remember the good things about me rather than mourning my loss. (If it turns out a specific number of tears will, in fact, bring me back to life, then by all means, break out the onions.) I had a pretty good life, as I noted above. Sure, all things being equal I would have preferred to have more time, but I have no business complaining with all the good fortune I've enjoyed in my life. So if you're up for that, put on a little 80s music (preferably vintage 1980-1984), grab a Coke and have a drink with me. If you have it, throw 'Freedom Isn't Free' from the Team America soundtrack in; if you can't laugh at that song, I think you need to lighten up a little. I'm dead, but if you're reading this, you're not, so take a moment to enjoy that happy fact.

...

I suppose I should speak to the circumstances of my death. It would be nice to believe that I died leading men in battle, preferably saving their lives at the cost of my own. More likely I was caught by a marksman or an IED. But if there is an afterlife, I'm telling anyone who asks that I went down surrounded by hundreds of insurgents defending a village composed solely of innocent women and children. It'll be our little secret, ok?

I do ask (not that I'm in a position to enforce this) that no one try to use my death to further their political purposes. I went to Iraq and did what I did for my reasons, not yours. My life isn't a chit to be used to bludgeon people to silence on either side. If you think the U.S. should stay in Iraq, don't drag me into it by claiming that somehow my death demands us staying in Iraq. If you think the U.S. ought to get out tomorrow, don't cite my name as an example of someone's life who was wasted by our mission in Iraq. I have my own opinions about what we should do about Iraq, but since I'm not around to expound on them I'd prefer others not try and use me as some kind of moral capital to support a position I probably didn't support....

On a similar note, while you're free to think whatever you like about my life and death, if you think I wasted my life, I'll tell you you're wrong. We're all going to die of something. I died doing a job I loved. When your time comes, I hope you are as fortunate as I was.

Since he asked for Freedom Isn't Free, here it is. I hope this doesn't break his rule about using his death for political purposes; all the YouTube versions seem to be tributes to the troops.

Thanks to Confederate Yankee.

Posted by: Ace at 01:26 PM | Comments (31)
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Ummm...

That's an interesting take. It's interesting in a sci-fi, alt-history sort of way, like what if the Nazis had traveled back through time and rode Tyranosaurus Rexes across Poland in a combined Blitzkreig/Saurositz?

Or, like. how would the DC Universe had been different if Aqauaman wasn't gay?

See? Hillary's got what this nation needs: a bold imagination capable of wondering not only what a better future might look like, but what a better past might look like too. She should run on that.

Update [Dave in Texas]: Commenter OregonMuse suggests a new bumper sticker - "Hillary: No Convictions"

It sings.

Posted by: Ace at 11:47 AM | Comments (39)
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From "Churchy McChurch," commenting on Ezra Klein's rapturous (literally) praise of Obamessiah:

The difference between the right and the left:

Huckabee's supporters thank God for giving them Huckabee.

Obama's supporters thank Obama for giving them God.

Posted by: Ace at 11:24 AM | Comments (15)
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