Well! I'm sure some study can at least show we're more open to sexual adventurousness!

Vito Fosella, the only GOP Representative from New York City (if you count Staten Island, which no one does), got busted DUI last week.

That's not the big problem. The big problem is that he told a cop he was racing to see his sick daughter. His sick love-child daughter of a mother who is not his wife.

This is in the category of "unconfirmed rumor" at the moment-- but only barely. Read JWF's post. It's pretty lock-solid.

There goes another one.

And Larry Craig's still running, right? Great.

Posted by: Ace at 09:17 AM | Comments (22)
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"Is your card the Jack of Spades?"

-- "It is... Burn the witch! Burn him!"

Good God. Get a grip, you frigging morons.

Substitute teacher Jim Piculas does a 30-second magic trick where a toothpick disappears then reappears.

But after performing it in front of a classroom at Rushe Middle School in Land 'O Lakes, Piculas said his job did a disappearing act of its own.

"I get a call the middle of the day from the supervisor of substitute teachers. He says, 'Jim, we have a huge issue. You can't take any more assignments. You need to come in right away,'" he said.

When Piculas went in, he learned his little magic trick cast a spell that went much farther than he'd hoped.

"I said, 'Well Pat, can you explain this to me?' 'You've been accused of wizardry,' [he said]. Wizardry?" he asked.

I'm thinking that all it would take to turn these people into my terrified minions is the ancient incantation from the Book of the Dead, translated from the Egyptian cartouches approximately as "The Mighty Conjuration of 'Pull My Finger.'"

Idiots.

Thanks to Asher.

Posted by: Ace at 09:00 AM | Comments (128)
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Not really that shocking, really, given their own religion-without-a-god already pretty much was all that. Still, it's nice to see some consistency on the left.

Open the pages of a liberal magazine or peruse the liberal blogosphere, and you’re bound to come across denunciations of the religious right, if not religion itself. The “reality-based community,” as self-satisfied liberal bloggers call themselves, was a term created in direct response to the “faith-based community,” what the Bush administration called recipients of money from its Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Given the religious right’s use of “faith” to justify hoaxes such as “intelligent design” and the ruinous attempt to convert homosexuals into heterosexuals, the left had good reason to criticize, and sometimes mock, the absurdities that are the inevitable result of religion mixing with politics.

Yet the left, with its healthy skepticism toward religion, has shown itself to be cynically flexible over the past few weeks in response to the utter insanities emitted from the big mouth of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Sen. Barack ObamaÂ’s pastor, mentor and friend of 20 years. Suddenly, some liberals have discovered a newfound love for extremists who hide behind the cloth to justify their radical views.

...

But in the warped minds of some on the left, uttering such inanities is not only “understandable,” it’s laudable....

John Nichols is the Washington correspondent for The Nation. Like most of his comrades, he tends to be a vociferous critic of the religious right, regularly denouncing them for all manner of bad deeds. But to Nichols, Wright is not a divisive figure spreading dangerous lies. He is, in fact, “in possession of the balm that has frequently proven to be the cure for what ails America,” that is, “an eyes-wide-open faith in the prospect that this country can and will put aside the sins of the past and forge a future that is as just as it is righteous.” Nichols ended his ode to Wright by comparing the preacher to none other than Thomas Jefferson, a comparison that Wright would likely find insulting, given that he’s accused the author of the Declaration of Independence of pedophilia.

Read the whole thing; there's more.

Via Instapundit.

Posted by: Ace at 08:47 AM | Comments (21)
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Again and again, these dopey liberals-are-better-than-conservatives "studies" deliberately make the same blatantly unscientific error: When a difference between conservatives and liberals is found, a very unsupportable value judgment is read into that difference, and the conservative tendency is described unscientifically as base and inferior, while the liberal tendency is described unscientifically as elevated and superior. They never quite get around to providing the data set to prove that; it's assumed. And everyone knows in science you're allowed to assume all the unsupported moral judgments you like.

So here we go again. Conservatives are found to be, as was of course expected, to be not as bothered by income inequality as liberals. That part of the study is well supported, but rather obvious and hardly worthy of a headline; it's not like we didn't know liberals pretend to be all worried about income inequality as they sip their lattes and drive their Volvos while not giving to charity.

But the social "scientists" here decide, by fiat, that a liberal-level of pretend-concern about income inequality is the "right" level of such concern and, ergo, any deviation from that is "wrong."

So once again: A "study" by liberals "proves" that liberals are better.

Individuals with conservative ideologies are happier than liberal-leaners, and new research pinpoints the reason: Conservatives rationalize social and economic inequalities.

Regardless of marital status, income or church attendance, right-wing individuals reported greater life satisfaction and well-being than left-wingers, the new study found. Conservatives also scored highest on measures of rationalization, which gauge a person's tendency to justify, or explain away, inequalities.

The rationalization measure included statements such as: "It is not really that big a problem if some people have more of a chance in life than others," and "This country would be better off if we worried less about how equal people are."

To justify economic inequalities, a person could support the idea of meritocracy, in which people supposedly move up their economic status in society based on hard work and good performance. In that way, one's social class attainment, whether upper, middle or lower, would be perceived as totally fair and justified.

...

"Our research suggests that inequality takes a greater psychological toll on liberals than on conservatives," the researchers write in the June issue of the journal Psychological Science, "apparently because liberals lack ideological rationalizations that would help them frame inequality in a positive (or at least neutral) light."

Lacking in this "study" is actual proof that conservative beliefs are "rationalizations" as opposed to, um, reason.

But we don't sweat such things in science anymore. If a premise is helpful to the conclusion you seek to prove, feel free to assume and assert its validity without evidence.

Meanwhile, of course, we have no psychological studies delving into the quite-interesting riddle of why liberals claim to care so much about the poor but donate so much less money and volunteer so much less time to charitable causes. I'm curious as to what "rationalizations" liberals have to justify such behavior.

Thanks so much to The Marchand Chronicles.

Posted by: Ace at 08:22 AM | Comments (91)
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Last night's Indiana contest was a bit of a rollercoaster and at the end of it pundits on the left and the right loudly declared that Clinton's campaign was over. She disagrees.

“This candidacy and this campaign continue on,” Howard Wolfson, the communications director for Sen. Clinton, told CNN on Wednesday morning. “We do have to do well in the remaining contests,” he acknowledged, describing West Virginia, where she is expected to win as handily as she did in neighboring Ohio and Pennsylvania, as “a critically important swing state.”

Heh. Last week, Wolfson called Indiana a critical turning point for Clinton, but no matter how much Wolfson spins, Indiana did not help her. Morale and money is low at Clinton HQ. Obama has an overwhelming fundraising lead, one she can't make up even by giving herself $6.4M. She's searching for untapped donors, but coming up empty.

Aside from her morale and money problems, she's lost all control of the press. A wave of rumors was started last night when Tim Russert announced that Clinton had cancelled her morning show appearances today. In a cross-network game of telephone, that was warped into claims that she was cancelling all her Wednesday appearances. This morning, the Baltimore Sun took it one step further and claimed that she cancelled her morning appearances and returned to Washington, pointed-tail between her legs.

Clinton passed up appearances on the network morning shows today and returned to Washington with no public events on her schedule. There was inevitable speculation about whether her candidacy was nearing an end, but her campaign announced that she would fly to West Virginia, South Dakota and Oregon for rallies tomorrow.

In fact, she's in West Virginia already and will be tomorrow, too. She changed her schedule last night after "Turning Point" Indiana. It is Obama who is taking the day off from campaigning to get some work done in Washington.

More: Like rats from a sinking ship.

Former Sen. George McGovern, an early supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton, urged her to drop out of the Democratic presidential race and endorsed her rival, Barack Obama.

After watching the returns from the North Carolina and Indiana primaries Tuesday night, McGovern said Wednesday it's virtually impossible for Clinton to win the nomination. The 1972 Democratic presidential nominee said he had a call in to former President Clinton to tell him of the decision, adding that he remains close friends with the Clintons.

Rumor has it that a slate of undeclared, but Obama-supporting, superdelgates will announce their support today and the next few days.

Video Bye-Bye [Ace]:

Is that all there is to the circus? Is that all there is?

Creepy and off-kilter, like Her Majesty.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:19 AM | Comments (25)
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Remember this video?

30 million viewers can't be wrong. The National Geographic Channel will have some sort of documentary (ooh! using CGI to explain the encounter) this Sunday, May 11th, at 9pm.

Posted by: Ace at 09:25 PM | Comments (43)
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Lake County (which includes Gary, essentially a Chicago suburb) is finally coming in at 11:50 and Obama is winning by almost 3 to 1. Clinton's lead is down to 20,000 votes. Rove says if these margins hold up Obama will win Indiana.

I don't think it matters. She can't 'win' by 2 or 3 points and claim a victory.

Alas, my gal is down and out. Hillary, I hardly knew ye.

More [Gabe]: Gary Mayor Rudy Clay Predicts Obama Suprise:

"Let me tell you, when all the votes are counted, when Gary comes in, I think you're looking at something for the world to see," Clay, an Obama supporter, said in a telephone interview from Obama's Gary headquarters. "I don't know what the numbers are yet, but Gary has absolutely produced in large numbers for Obama here."

[...]

"It takes a little time. We want to be sure that every vote is counted fair and right," he said. "I just talked to the director out there and they are working like junkyard dogs to get that done as soon as possible. They are taking some time but I told them to do it right. That's what taking the time."

"Working like junkyard dogs" is a favorite phrase of Clay. He's been predicting an Obama shock for a month now.

[Ace:] Game Over, Man! Game Over!

From Slublog. That's Hicks Hudson in Aliens, btw.

So... It does seem to be over, eh?

Now that Hillary's out... Who the hell do we root for?

Update [Ace]: Hillary barely wins the state, loses the nomination.

Posted by: DrewM at 07:54 PM | Comments (123)
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His reasoning? The 2,025 figure excludes Michigan and Florida from the total number of delegates (2,025 equals half of all delegates minus MI and FLA), and he says you have to include Florida's and Michigan's totals before you halve it.

So voila. 2,209.

Kind of late in the game to note a change in the how many innings per game, huh?

Thanks to DrewM.

Reaction:

With North Carolina headed to the Obama column that dream was dashed. On the other hand, squinting at the Indiana returns trickling in, Mrs Clinton was daring to hope she had avoided the calamity of a double-loss. As she calculates she has done well enough to hang on she will begin to focus more than ever on persuading remaining uncommitted superdelegates to come to her side. They will be her only hope of vaulting past Mr Obama for the crown.

The game had started last night with her campaign manager, Geoff Garin, suggesting the winning post for the nomination should no longer be 2,025 delegates but 2,208. He reached the figure by including delegates from Michigan and Florida, the states disqualified from the process because they voted early.

His remarks were a reminder that the Michigan-Florida quandary may quickly consume the Democratic Party. But one Obama supporter, Allan Katz, a member of the party's national committee, counterattacked. "When you totally ignore the rules, letting these people change the outcome, that doesn't pass the straight-face test," he said.

Thanks to Gabriel Malor.

Posted by: Ace at 05:05 PM | Comments (34)
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Remember when he said “The lesson is they want the borders secured first.”

That was then. This is now.

Turns out McCain may have learned another lesson from last summerÂ’s immigration debate. The same old lesson.

“Unless we enact comprehensive immigration reform I don’t think you can take it piecemeal,” he explained Monday, answering a question about providing visas for skilled workers.

“In other words,” he said, “because as soon you and I start to talk about the highly skilled workers, our agricultural interest people are going to say, ‘Look we need ag workers, too.’ And then somebody’s going say, 'We need the DREAM Act,' and then somebody’s going to say, 'We’ve got to enforce our border.'”

“We get in this kind of a circular firing squad on immigration reform in the Congress of the United States," McCain said, "and the lesson I learned from it is we’ve got to have comprehensive immigration reform.”

(h/t V the K)

Allow me to take this opportunity to officially endorse Hillary Clinton for President.

IÂ’ve been thinking about this and hereÂ’s my reasons whyÂ…

The reality is thereÂ’s going to be a Democratic President someday. Hillary with all her faults is also ruthlessly practical and may in fact be the best we can hope for in a modern Democrat. DonÂ’t think so? Who else do you have in mind? JFK and Truman arenÂ’t coming back and if they did, they wouldnÂ’t be Democrats.

DonÂ’t forget, the Nutroots and Andrew Sullivan hate her. ThatÂ’s got to count for something.

I know this is a calculated gamble in a couple of areas.

I am betting (hoping) that the appointments she gets to the Court, if elected, will be to replace Stevens, Ginsburg and maybe Souter. I am gambling that none of the conservatives, and for purposes of discussion that includes Justice Kennedy, quit or die.

I am also gambling (and this admittedly is the bigger one) that President Hillary will be the Hillary of last summer on Iraq when she was talking much tougher and willing to see things through.

An addendum...one thing about Hillary is she isn't stupid. Now that things are better in Iraq and there's some hope, is she going to walk away or try and gab the credit for the improvements on her watch? If she wins she won't owe a damn thing to the Surrender Now! monkeys. She hates them and they hate her. She'll rearrange the furniture and claim the credit for W's work. more...

Posted by: DrewM at 02:39 PM | Comments (220)
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FoxNews just got the exit polls.

Heh: No wonder Steven King is such a big Obama booster.

Pride of authorship. He almost invented the Magic Negro.

First Exits: White working class (no college education, critical to Hillary) around 65-34 in Indiana, 64-27 in NC.

Not enough. Because that's what she needs with all white voters to even have a shot at Obama in NC, and the college crowd is ga-ga for the Messiah.

This stupid thing again...
more...

Posted by: Ace at 01:02 PM | Comments (30)
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