Politico wanted to call it over, too, because Politico was determined to write the storyline that insurgents (read: Tea Party) went down in flames. First they claimed all insurgents lost, then Scott won in Florida, so Politico changed that to say he was the exception that proved the rule that all insurgents fail.

Mickey Kaus was giving them smack about it all night.

Two days ago, Slate went full-retard.

Mama Grizzly Man

Why the candidate of Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Express is losing in Alaska.
By Alexandra Gutierrez

Posted Monday, Aug. 23, 2010, at 5:54 PM ET

UNALASKA, Alaska—On Tuesday, in her home state, Sarah Palin's favorite will probably get trounced. Joe Miller is widely expected to lose by a large margin to incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Republican primary—an embarrassing defeat for the former governor, who has endorsed Miller, but also to Miller's other major backer, the Tea Party Express.

...

Not surprisingly, Steve Wackowski, a campaign spokesman for Murkowski, agrees that backing from Palin and the Tea Party Express is more of a liability for Miller than anything else. "It turns Alaskans off when outside groups from the Lower 48 like this California Tea Party Express come out and try to tell Alaskans how to vote and what they should be doing," says Wackowski. "I'm from here; I grew up here. And whether it's extreme environmentalists telling us that we can't drill in ANWR or that we can't do predator control to manage our game stocks, I think that really rubs Alaskans the wrong way. On Tuesday, you're going to see evidence of that."

Despite the long odds, Miller's team is still feeling optimistic. On Friday Sarah Palin wrote yet another Facebook post extolling his commonsense conservative values, and campaign spokesman Randy DeSoto says internal polls show that the campaign is within one point of Murkowski. The race is "pretty much neck and neck," he says. On Tuesday, we'll find out exactly how close those necks are.

In fairness, there was some polling showing Miller behind. But... This was an article written to describe what the author wished to happen, and what the intended audience joined him in wishing with all their hearts would happen.

Earlier tonight, someone called The Politico's claim of insurgents (again: by that they meant Tea Party favorites) failing so disastrously a case of spin.

I don't even think it's spin. Spin is when you know you're lying. These guys aren't lying.

They're wish-casting. They are not telling you any sort of objective reasonable assessment of likelihood; they are just telling you what their shriveled black hearts wish would happen.

This is 60% of media "horse-race" coverage; it's 40% genuine likelihood-assessment by checking with statisticians and pollsters, and it's 60% just wish-casting. I want Joe Miller to lose because she was endorsed by Sarah Palin and I hate her, so of course that's what I think will happen.

They're not broadcasters, they're wishcasters. They're so partisan they can't even separate this function out from their driving rah-rah impulse.

Tim Lindell.

Posted by: Ace at 12:16 AM | Comments (157)
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The Ace of Spades Decision Desk Is Prepared To Make a Call...

Based on the Miller's confidence (a new mention of that at the Other McCain) and Murkowski's lack of it (she is not talking to reporters, but sent out a spokesman to claim "We're still optimistic"), and the fact that it's 4:00am, I'm calling it:

Joe Miller wins.

Well, that at $12 will buy you a pack of cigarettes in NYC, but I'm going to sleep thinking it's in the sack, as it were.

tim3rd sent that to me tonight; I haven't heard that song in 30 years. It's from 1981, Reagan's first year; I am really thinking it's just cheesy enough, and properly themed, to be some kind of goofy victory song.

...

Whoo!

Lead grows slightly. With 33.3% in, it's now 51.2% to 48.8%. Previously it had been 50.75% to 49.25%.

36.2% in, lead stays the same.

Okay, A Little Shakiness... I asked on Twitter, "Is this one of those Detroit situations where Anchorage comes in and all of a sudden Murkowski's up by 5%?"

Someone answered, yeah, it is more left-leaning, and it's about 40% of the state's total population. (40%!) So this is that time where we'd like to have Barone telling us how counties are breaking.

Or Is Anchorage Already In? Stephantawney, who seems to know what he's talking about, thinks Anchorage may be coming in early:

Not sure, but Anchorage consumes house districts 19-32, and ADN has many of those reporting now.

This tweet by Anchorage Daily News has Joe Miller with a giddy smile and talkin' smack about Alaska "rejecting an entitlement state"... I'd say he knows he won.

But New Update: Cancel pudding for now, hearing Anchorage not in.

Okay, I have no idea: The Other McCain's Alaska correspondent (at the convention where they first put up the results) says that these results are from metro Anchorage, but I've had it backwards -- Anchorage actually favors Miller, while "the bush" favors Murkowski, or at least that is what people are guessing. (I guess there hasn't been much detailed polling.)

Well actually he doesn't know if Anchorage favors Miller, but the hinterlands, it is theorized, favor Murkowski. Drew figures that may be due to reliance on federal largesse -- which is what the Murkowski legacy is all about.

As you can see there is a lot of bad guessing by me, I'm going to try to find an Alaskan news radio station.

Radio Feed: Livestream from Alaska. They're saying that Miller thinks he has it... They are waiting on the bush (we all know what that's like), but the think Miller may have it.

Another Cocky Tweet From Miller:

JoeWMiller

America, keep in mind the potential: this was done with a mostly all-volunteer campaign staff

I am almost ready to put up the headline I wanted...

Posted by: Ace at 09:16 PM | Comments (329)
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Good evening all M&Ms. Don't forget about the job bank at the AoSHQ yahoo group.

Hey How About Some Mashups

Sometimes when you mix two things together and edit it right, you end up with something new and awesome.

So here's a Kubrick-Scorsese mashup. It has scenes from 34 different films and supposedly took the creator 24 days to make.

And here's a mashup of the Jacksons' Rockin' Robin and Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit that works surprisingly well. It's like happy fun grunge.

Posted by: Maetenloch at 05:11 PM | Comments (902)
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Miller and Hayworth are not expected to win, but we can hope. Results at top of page.

And if you're an Arizona resident, yeah, pull the lever for Hayworth. You're not electing a flight commander, you're electing a Senator.

And definitely pull for Miller and pull hard. Then go get your kids, dress them up in Groucho glasses and mustaches, fake them up some ID and have them vote seven or eight times too. No one checks; it's the Democratic way!

Some stuff at Hot Air.

Below, John McCain shows how he won another Republican Primary despite being a closet Democrat (and a closet Democrat in much the same way Liberace was a closet pianist).

Video funny thanks to rdbrewer.

Florida, Florida, Florida: McCollum and Scott neck-and-neck for gubernatorial nomination, and a ridiculously close three-way race in FL-24.

Meeks won, so that's good for Rubio.

Bang...? Oh dear. Jim Geraghty writes on Twitter:

In the Fla. GOP Senate primary in Florida,787K votes cast; in the Dem primary, 489K votes cast.

Now, the GOP Senate race was all but uncontested. (A pair of not-very-serious candidates will collect 15% between them.)

And the Dem Senate race was contested.

There is a big contested gubernatorial race at the top of the ballot, so that brings out the GOP, but... okay, fine, so both parties had a reason to vote in the primaries; why does the GOP enjoy a nearly 45% edge in turnout in a 50/50 state?

Neck and Neck and Neck: FL-24 GOP Primary: 88% reporting Adams 31 Diebel 29 MIller 27. Nathan Wurzel.

Posted by: Ace at 04:03 PM | Comments (302)
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Has this been mentioned here? Sorry if it has.

The song is pretty good:

Reaction? Liberals demand he be fired; school administration of course agrees.

Twenty-six-year-old Bryan Glover is a Christian who co-wrote a song called "When You're Holding a Hammer, Everything Looks Like a Nail," which takes a dig at the current administration and what he believes to be the wrong moves for the U.S. He sent a link to his song to everyone in his personal e-mail inbox, which included parents from Grassland Middle School, where he coached football.

"An hour-and-a-half after sending out the e-mail, I got the phone call from the head coach saying that he had had complaints from parents; he was told to fire me," the former coach accounts.

He notes that he was surprised by the allegations against him.

"When the coach first called me, he said his phone was blown up with parents saying that I was being politically incorrect -- quote, unquote -- if you will, and that some of them were even reading into racial overtones in the song," Glover explains.

But he points out that the lyrics make no direct or indirect reference to race.

A number of supportive parents met with the principal and asked for reinstatement, but the school district is remaining firm.

This is how it is going to have to be: First of all, all of the school board members here have to be run against, and run hard against, and ejected from office. And then the principal needs to be fired, and every administrator along the way.

Second: Conservatives must begin, immediately, to get liberals fired from their jobs for any political expression. Any. Political. Expression.

We have tried to reason to them that this fascism is unfair. They don't care, they don't get it. All they see is the upside of fascism, the "good" side, the happy side, the I-get-to-coerce-my-opponents-and-hold-them-in-terror side.

They haven't been held in terror themselves, worried that any stray comment they make may cause them to lose their livelihood (in the worst recession since the depression, no less). They do not "behave" as conservatives are forced to stay in line because they haven't experienced the terror of of a hostile political bloc which has seized control of all the apparatuses of government.

They must be made to be afraid. And when a certain number of them have experienced the bad side of fascism, perhaps then they will be amenable to reason.

But they won't be until then. It's time to start using their despicable tactics against them. Not out of vengeance -- but as a teachable moment.

Posted by: Ace at 01:19 PM | Comments (679)
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Just when all the talking heads, politicians, and eco-scientists think they got their shit wire tight, along comes some unknown little critter who tosses a monkeywrench into their plans.

...Here, we report that the dispersed hydrocarbon plume stimulated deep-sea indigenous {gamma}-proteobacteria that are closely related to known petroleum-degraders. Hydrocarbon-degrading genes coincided with the concentration of various oil contaminants. Changes in hydrocarbon composition with distance from the source and incubation experiments with environmental isolates demonstrate faster-than-expected hydrocarbon biodegradation rates at 5°C. Based on these results, the potential exists for intrinsic bioremediation of the oil plume in the deep-water column without substantial oxygen drawdown.

Of course nature oozes oil out of the seabed all the time, and it only stands to reason some critter would have evolved over time that would take advantage of that food source. We were just never looking for them, and they just did their work for millions of years without a care in the world.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 12:05 PM | Comments (274)
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Racists? I think so. 50% bitter, 50% clingy.

There was a Democratic meeting scheduled, to which Greene was originally invited; he was disinvited after his indictment on the felony obscenity charge. (Which was already obviously a major thing before the indictment.)

He showed up anyway with a female "companion" (!-- their word, pregnant with insinuation, not mine), who got into an argument with the racist Democrats there. They called the cops and had Greene and his... escort, I guess you'd say, kicked out, without charges being filed. Correction: I could swear it said "companion" when I read it. It definitely doesn't say that now.

In related news, Chris Matthews wants to know why Mitch McConnell won't say Alvin Greene is a Christian.

Thanks to Shooter McGavin.

Posted by: Ace at 11:55 AM | Comments (79)
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If you are on blood pressure medication be sure to take it before reading this.

In its first-ever report to the U.N. Human Rights Council on conditions in the United States, the State Department said Monday that some Americans, notably minorities, are still victims of discrimination. Despite success in reforming such inequities as slavery and the denial of women's right to vote, the department said, considerable progress is still needed.

"Although we have made great strides, work remains to meet our goal of ensuring equality before the law for all," it said.

The report noted that although the U.S. now has an African-American president and that women and Hispanics have won greater social and economic success, large segments of American society suffer from unfair policies and practices.

High unemployment rates, hate crime, poverty, poor housing, lack of access to health care and discriminatory hiring practices are among the challenges the report identified as affecting blacks, Latinos, Muslims, South Asians, Native Americans and gays and lesbians in the United States.

None of these things are "human rights" violations. They are not government enforced privations but simply the ebbs and flow of life. I hate to break it to Team Obama but not living in some sort of liberal utopia isn't a human rights violation.

But don't worry, Obama is working really hard on fixing America and the suggestion box is open.

It also said the report did not reflect "doubt in the ability of the American political system to deliver progress for its citizens."

At the same time, it said that the U.S. welcomed "observations and recommendations" from council members "that can help us on that road to a more perfect union."

Here's the list of members of the UN Human Rights Council. There are some nice enough countries on there (Chile, France, South Korea, Japan, the UK) but none that I think we need any help from.

On the other hand, there are plenty of disgusting countries like China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Libya and Russia. Read the US' own human rights reports on these countries and then tell me what in the world they have to teach America about improving human rights or helping us on a "road to a more perfect union". It makes as much sense to have countries like that on a "Human Rights Council" as it does to put a KKK Grand Wizard on the board of the Anti-Defamation League.

What in the world is the US doing sitting on a council about Human Rights that includes these serial abusers?

Yet America under Obama is willing to go along with this absurdity in the name of furthering international comity. The fact that we participate in this sham of a council only elevates the abusers and lowers America's standing.

The sad truth is Obama simply sees America as no better than any other nation on the UN roll call and in fact worse than quite a few.

Related: Sylvester Stallone to leftwing writers: Lighten up Francis and oh by the way, America apologizes too much.
more...

Posted by: DrewM at 11:23 AM | Comments (198)
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At Hot Air, up by 8%.

Democrats will get their stronger candidate if Kendrick Meek wins the Florida Senate primary tonight as expected- but the biggest winner coming out of the primary may be Marco Rubio. PPP finds he would begin the general election in the lead at 40%, followed by Charlie Crist at 32%, and Meek at 17%. If Jeff Greene were somehow able to pull off the upset tonight it would be much closer with Rubio at 37%, Crist at 36%, and Greene at only 13%.

PPPÂ’s last poll of the race in mid-July found Crist in the lead at 35% to 29% for Rubio and 17% for Meek. Two major developments have shifted the race in RubioÂ’s direction though. The first is that Democrats are now going for Meek 39-38 where before they were going for Crist 44-35. As Democrats have gotten to know Meek over the course of the primary campaign theyÂ’ve generally decided they like him and thatÂ’s cut into CristÂ’s support for the general election.

The other big difference is that many Republican voters have moved off the fence and theyÂ’ve almost universally moved into the Rubio column.

"Stick with me, Barack--
I'll make you a star!"

Posted by: Ace at 10:51 AM | Comments (102)
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Left to Right: The Lightworker; Sheriff Joe

Quoted at Hot Air.

"Recovery Summer" turns out to be half right -- Barack Obama's crack economic team did in fact predict that summer would follow the spring (with 95% confidence).

GOP Targets Obama's 'Recovery Summer' Amid Economic Gloom

Republicans Poised to Hammer Democrats on Jobs Promises Ahead of November

You make it sound so negative. We're not going to be talking down his super-amazing legislative accomplishments, managing to get big, destructive bills through a hostile Congress in which he has great majorities of Democrats; we're going to be talking up his two years of abject, catastrophic failure.

The White House dubbed it "Recovery Summer" and President Obama declared the economy had begun "growing at a good clip." Vice President Joe Biden predicted weeks earlier that creation of 250,000 to 500,000 new jobs a month could soon be on the horizon.

But with summer quickly coming to an end, those jobs gains and a robust economic recovery have not yet materialized, leaving Democrats on the verge of a fall election campaign in which Republicans are poised to make them eat their words.

"Sadly, this so-called 'Recovery Summer' could end up with more Americans finding themselves out of work then when it began," said National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Ken Spain. "Expect Republican candidates across the country to ask one simple question of Democrat incumbents: 'Where are the jobs?'"

...

"I think we're going to get a fair amount of credit by November," said Vice President Biden. "I think we're going to do fine." Biden has predicted the Democrats will keep both the House and Senate.

You will get a great amount of credit, Sheriff. More than you can handle.

But touting summer 2010 as "the most active Recovery Act season yet" and, implicitly, as a period of job growth, belies a reality many Americans say they are experiencing.

Only 27 percent of Americans see the economy as improving, according to the most recent ABC News/Washington Post poll. And a new low -- 43 percent -- approve of Obama's handling of the economy.

"'Recovery Summer' is their 'mission accomplished' without the banner," said Larry Sabato....

Picture -- a real unaltered presidential double-facepalm -- found by Slublog. Once he sent me that I had to post this article.

By the way, the headline is a near-exact quote from Bush the Elder, who clumsily expressed himself that way during the recession that doomed him.

Posted by: Ace at 10:13 AM | Comments (145)
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