The final three, according to the NYT: Tim Kaine of Virginia, Evan Bayh of Indiana, Joe Biden of Delaware.

Bill Kristol hears a different three: Kaine, Biden, and Sebelius.

So did he pick Sebelius? Does the NYT's final three not include her as a head fake? And did John McCain psychically cheat by anticipating Obama's selection through mindreading and precognition?

Meanwhile: Tim Kaine has attempted to raise taxes several times, each attempt blocked. He now faces the prospect of "difficult" cuts in education and transportation, which of course he's attempting to hide until the November election.

Posted by: Ace at 04:15 PM | Comments (157)
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The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously today that doctors may not on religious grounds refuse to provide infertility treatments on account of the sexuality of the patients. According to the court, such refusal violates California antidiscrimination law. The terse, 18 page decision is here (PDF).

What happened in this case is a lesbian went to a doctor for infertility treatments after the old fashioned way failed to get her pregnant. The doctor knew that the patient was a lesbian in a long term relationship and unmarried (this was 1999), and explained that her religion would keep her from doing certain procedures if they became necessary, but that other doctors at the same practice could do them. That arrangement seemed to work okay for a year. However, when they eventually decided that those certain procedures were necessary to get the patient pregnant, the other doctors at the clinic balked and provided a referral to another doctor. The patient sued claiming sexual orientation discrimination.

The doctors defended in part by arguing that their rights to free speech and religious freedom under the federal and California constitutions would be infringed if the antidiscrimination law compelled them to provide treatment to lesbians. Today, the California Supreme Court disagreed, quoting a 1990 decision written by Justice Scalia which refused to grant an religious exception for smoking weed ingesting peyote [Fixed --GM]:

[T]he First AmendmentÂ’s right to the free exercise of religion "does not relieve an individual of the obligation to comply with a 'valid and neutral law of general applicability on the ground that the law proscribes (or prescribes) conduct that his religion prescribes (or proscribes).'" [...]

Thus, under the United States Supreme CourtÂ’s most recent holdings, a religious objector has no federal constitutional right to an exemption from a neutral and valid law of general applicability on the ground that compliance with that law is contrary to the objectorÂ’s religious beliefs.

The California Constitution provided no better protection for the doctors.

The case now goes back to the trial court to examine the question of whether the doctors' religious objection based on marital status, something not prohibited under the antidiscrimination laws eight years ago (it is now), provides a defense against the lawsuit.

In the meantime:

"The Supreme Court's desire to promote the homosexual lifestyle at the risk of infringing upon the First Amendment right to free exercise of religion is what the public needs to learn about," said [Robert] Tyler, who leads the nonprofit Advocates for Faith and Freedom in Murrieta, Calif.

I'm doing my part.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 02:46 PM | Comments (97)
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That candidate? Barack Obama, told about the emergency-aid-for-adoption question before the event.

McCain was not so apprised.

Posted by: Ace at 01:56 PM | Comments (39)
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Will it be enough to shut up Excitable Andy and other morons on the left? Who knows and who cares.

Byron York called McCain's fellow POW Orson Swindle and got the story.

"I recall John telling that story when we first got together in 1971, when were talking about every conceivable thing that had ever happened to us when we were in prison" Swindle told me a few minutes ago. "Most of us had been kept apart or in small groups. Then, in 1970, they moved us into the big cell. And when we all got to see each other and talk to each other directly, instead of tapping through walls, we had 24 hours a day, seven days a week to talk to each other, and we shared stories. I vaguely recall that story being told, among other stories."

"I remember it from prison," Swindle continued. "There were several stories similar to that in which guards — a very few, I might add — showed compassion to the prisoners. It was rare, and I never met one, but some of the guys did."

Calling sources who might serve as witnesses to verify a charge? I guess that's much harder than say, making shit up out of whole cloth. Of course Sullivan and other desperate lefties are more interesting in cheap smears than anything else.

I imagine this bit of news has forced Keith Olbermann to rework the first half of his show.

I lied...I was curious what America's most excitable lefty would say. Shockingly, he's not convinced. In fact, St. Heartache only quotes the last line where Swindle says he, 'vaguely' recalls the story. He left out the first definitive statement and the whole context. I guess reminding people about how tough it is to be held captive is only worth doing if you are trying to generate sympathy for Islamic terrorists, not Americans who were really tortured.

And no...they'll be no linking. You know how to find this turd if you want to.

*For the record...I screwed up Mr. Swindle's name in the original post and have corrected it.

Posted by: DrewM at 01:52 PM | Comments (36)
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Is there a full moon or something? It seems like the Left has chosen today to go especially crazy.

First, there's the whole cross in the sand story which hit critical mass sometime last night. The short version is that McCain has, on many occasions, told the story about how on Christmas Eve, one of his Vietnamese captors silently drew a cross on the ground as some kind of sign of Christian solidarity. The Left has decided that McCain made the story up to appeal to Christians. Or something. Tom Maguire at the link takes the Lefty theorizing apart.

For my part, this has got to be one of the dumber lines of attack, simply because there is no way at all that this story can be proved or disproved. There was nobody there except for McCain and the guard so there is no way to know what went on. That isn't going to stop the Left, which is desperate to take revenge for the "swiftboating" of John Kerry.

But this is not like Kerry's Christmas in Cambodia fib, where Kerry's actual location and movements were documented in detail. Rather, this is McCain's word versus...well, no one's word. This is McCain versus the insinuation that he's intentionally or as a result of his age misremembering his captivity. Worse, it's not like this is about an issue of even moderate importance. Who really cares what McCain's captors did? No one at all. In other words, it doesn't matter what McCain's story might have been. The Left would have found some way to call him a liar.

Second, the cone of silence SCANDAL. That is all caps because judging by the amount of attention this story has been given in the legacy media (in addition to Lefty blogs), this is a Really. Big. DEAL. ABC's Jake Tapper, for example, has stumbled onto a particularly unpersuasive line of attack. Y'see, even though the McCain campaign has said that McCain didn't get to hear the questions early, the campaign has tellingly (according to Tapper) been silent on whether McCain aides could hear the questions. McCain's denial apparently wasn't broad enough for Tapper to think that it includes being relayed the questions by way of his aides. Cue the gotcha motif.

I think Ace had this one right from the beginning. Someone in the McCain campaign was smart enough to anticipate questions about abortion and judges at a religious forum. By contrast, the Obama campaign is staffed with idiots. I think more than anything else, the Left and the legacy media are simply embarrassed for their guy. And that's why they are all grasping at straws.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 10:59 AM | Comments (88)
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Robert Downey, Jr. with a review of The Dark Knight. You never hear celebrities trashing other movies.

"Didn't get it," he said, "still can't tell you what happened in the movie, what happened to the character and in the end they need him to be a bad guy. I'm like, 'I get it. This is so high brow and so fucking smart, I clearly need a college education to understand this movie.' You know what? Fuck DC comics. That's all I have to say and that's where I'm really coming from."

Downey also explained, "My whole thing is that that I saw The Dark Knight. I feel like I'm dumb because I feel like I don't get how many things that are so smart. It's like a Ferrari engine of storytelling and script writing and I'm like, 'That's not my idea of what I want to see in a movie.' I loved The Prestige but didn't understand The Dark Knight."

And don't bother warning him about possible reprisals for such loose talk. "You know, you're never too old to burn your bridges because I believe I have offended everyone. I think I've got a couple more. 'I'll burn that bridge when I come to it' is my favourite phrase I've ever coined."

I can't believe I used to hate this guy.

Thanks to PetiteDov.

Posted by: Ace at 10:35 AM | Comments (56)
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President Medvedev gave out medals today for service in the war in Georgia. His description of the conflict bears little resemblance to reality.

"Thank you for standing in the way of those who brought destruction and death to the people of the republic," he said, apparently referring to South Ossetia — the Russian-backed separatist region at the heart of the conflict, which erupted amid a Georgian offensive Aug. 7.

"You were the last hope of innocent people and your bravery saved lives," Medvedev said.

It was unclear what specific role the 30 soldiers and officers he decorated had played.

"I am sure that such a well-done, effective and peacemaking operation aimed at protecting our citizens and other people will be among the most glorious deeds of the Russian military," Medvedev said.

But hey, at least some Russian soldiers got to feel good about themselves. It's probably not much fun to work for a guy who gives out leave or die orders. I think the displacement of ethnic Georgians was always part of the plan:

“The soldiers told us they had an order from Putin - leave or be killed.” Manana Dioshvili showed no emotion as she described how Russian troops forced her to flee her home. Her former neighbours nodded in agreement, huddled together in a kindergarten whose windows had been blown out by a Russian bomb.

“That's how they explained themselves to us,” she recalled of the moment they fled the ethnic Georgian village of Kurta, near the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali.

“They said, ‘Putin has given us an order that everyone must be either shot or forced to leave'. They told us we should ask the Americans for help now because they would kill us if we stayed.”

Meanwhile, we're still waiting for Russia to pull back its troops. The blockade in the Black Sea continues, as does the occupation of Poti. Russia is moving missile launchers into South Ossetia and establishing "military buffer zones" in Georgia proper outside of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It looks like Russian troops are now digging in to Gori after severing Georgia's main east-west railway and blocking the east-west highway. These are the glorious deeds of the Russian military.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 10:09 AM | Comments (18)
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Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:32 AM | Comments (38)
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Post local observations, commentary, etc here.

As of early this morning, I'm seeing some of the feeder bands moving through Palm Beach County. We're getting periods of heavy rain every half hour or so interspersed with periods of calm.

I may have to rush out and do some panic buying. The beer supply is dangerously low and my last bag of Cheetos bit the dust last night.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 05:45 AM | Comments (90)
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Being used for engine test stand testing. Amazing any still existed and hadn't been sold for scrap.

The RS-18 engine was last used on Apollo 17 in 1972 to lift the ascent module off the lunar surface and begin the journey home. Thirty six years later, it is being used during testing once again as part of NASA's Constellation Program...modified to burn liquid oxygen and liquid methane in order to perform analysis on the engine test stand...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 05:20 AM | Comments (19)
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