With the NFC East up for grabs, it's a battle of which team wants it least.

I say the Giants-- I say they want it least.

Posted by: Ace at 03:15 PM | Comments (298)
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But he did not over-promise, and he did not underestimate how tough this was going to be.

And he didn't say this would be a short-term project, even though he himself put a three-year deadline on himself for turning the economy around.

Now he says it'll take more than one term-- "probably more than one president."

I seem to remember something about "now is the time when the oceans began to fall."

He'll be on 60 Minutes tonight.

Posted by: Ace at 02:39 PM | Comments (130)
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Pigeon Forge, TN:
more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 01:19 PM | Comments (127)
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“Many unfairly expected a messiah that could cure the U.S. of all its problems, and now we see it’s not that easy."

Posted by: Ace at 12:47 PM | Comments (162)
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Three great documentaries. Waiting For Superman is done by a liberal, so you get the added Even Liberals Are Saying It authority of a liberal decimating the Teachers Unions.

The Cartel is also good, but it lacks the emotional narrative arc of Waiting For Superman.

Waiting For Superman dramatizes its point -- that teachers unions are keeping students in failing schools, to doom them for life, just in order to keep their monopolies and their union benefits -- by following eight or so young kids whose only chance for success is winning the school-choice lottery. As an attempt to placate the public, the teachers unions will allow something like 10% of students to escape their horrific schools via the lottery system -- but they will keep the other 90% in prison.

Here's the thing: Of the eight kids you follow throughout the film, only a few make it out. Because that's the way the Teachers Unions want it to be.

The Lottery is the same idea, following kids through this process.

It's terrible, and this only happens because the teachers union wants to keep its horrific teachers in their horrific schools, and because the Democratic Party needs the teachers unions donations and manpower.

I've mentioned these documentaries before, but now they're all streaming. Just a click away if you have Netflix.

If you think you're outraged, but haven't watched these yet -- you're not really fully outraged.

Free on Hulu, Too: The Lottery and The Cartel are also absolutely free on Hulu (though I think there are advertisements at various points).

Weft-cut loop points that out.

Posted by: Ace at 10:28 AM | Comments (199)
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A necessary article.

If youÂ’ve ever found yourself engaged in a futile, one-sided argument with a politician on your TV screen, youÂ’re hardly alone in your frustration. However, if youÂ’re inclined to jot down such intemperate outbursts, and have the chutzpah to charge people for your services​—​you might have what it takes to join the ranks of one of journalismÂ’s most popular and elite new breeds.

They call themselves “fact checkers,” and with the name comes a veneer of objectivity doubling as a license to go after any remark by a public figure they find disagreeable for any reason. Just look at the Associated Press to understand how the scheme works. The venerable wire service’s recent “fact check” of statements made at the November 12 GOP presidential candidates’ foreign policy debate was a doozy. Throwing no less than seven reporters at the effort, the piece came up with some unusual examples of what it means to correct verifiable truths.

On Iran, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney suggested that the U.S. government should make it “very clear that the United States of America is willing, in the final analysis, if necessary, to take military action to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon.”

Little did Romney realize that the AP is the final arbiter of America’s tactical military capabilities and can say with certainty that a military attack on Iran’s nuclear program should not be attempted. “The U.S. certainly has military force readily at hand to destroy Iran’s known nuclear development sites in short order. This is highly unlikely, however, because of the strategic calculation that an attack would be counterproductive and ultimately ineffective, spawning retaliation against U.S. allies and forces in the region, and merely delaying eventual nuclear weapons development.”

Ohhhhh. See, I didn't know those were "facts." Thanks, AP!

Via @drewmtips, who's also at his own blog DrewMusings.

Posted by: Ace at 09:37 AM | Comments (81)
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Consider this a go-to source for later when you want to "quote" a poll (or when you want to catch another moron making shit up).

If you catch wind of a poll (complete with crosstabs), feel free to shoot me an email to theoneandonlyfinn at gmail.com.

The initial edition will be short, but that won't last. If a state has more than 3 polls, older polls will be abbreviated to a URL link. After 6 polls per office per state, oldest will be dumped to keep this somewhat readable. You can thank me later.

I will update this post throughout the week, bumping every Sunday as a recap of data collected. Ace and the rest of the co-bloggers will have posts on particularly damning polls, this thread will be updated throughout the next year to keep all available data in one spot.

***NOTE- If you are sending me polls, I will NOT be listing polling published days and weeks before this thread started. So data from, say, a primary poll in September is not going to be listed.*** more...

Posted by: CAC at 09:00 AM | Comments (245)
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Get your picks in. Also, there's a College Football Bowl thing. Go to the Yahoo Sports Fantasy thing, pick Join a Group, Groupid is 17838, password is paulanka

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 08:45 AM | Comments (341)
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This morning on Fox News Sunday, Governor Perry proposed a constitutional amendment to allow organized prayer in public schools. It's an extension of the campaign's current strategy of hoping that social conservatives will give him a boost out of fourth or fifth place in the Iowa caucuses.

Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," the Republican presidential hopeful went a step further than his previous calls for the Supreme Court to reverse its 1962 decision that banned organized prayer in public schools.

Perry said he would support "a constitutional amendment that would allow our children to pray in school any time that they would like."

Such a proposal would easily pass if put to a nationwide vote, Perry said. The step is necessary because of what Perry called "activist judges" appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court like Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

I think Perry is right that such an amendment would be exceptionally popular. But this late-adopted plea for social cons to save him will have about as much success for Perry as it had for Santorum and Bachmann.

This is the eighth constitutional amendment Perry has suggested during the campaign. The others were a pro-life amendment, a marriage amendment, a balanced budget amendment, an amendment repealing the income tax, an amendment repealing direct election of senators, an amendment abolishing lifetime tenure for federal judges, and an amendment giving Congress a veto of Supreme Court decisions.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:46 AM | Comments (232)
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"Sometimes even to live is an act of courage." - Seneca

Posted by: Monty at 06:15 AM | Comments (140)
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