The Center Cannot Hold

We could use more hindsight these days. Three years after the fact, we learn that Henry Paulson manipulated hedge funds even before he was given the sole authority over Republican killer TARP. Around the same time, Barack Obama was running for president with even closer ties to Jeremiah Wright than even Sean Hannity lead us to believe in 2008.

This won’t sink Obama’s chances of winning in 2012, but it does exemplify his silly 2008 campaign. The problem with running under the guise of not being like the last president is that you probably have no actual skills to bring to the table. Like Carter before, when the voters learn that you’re a lousy president, you have no ideological consistency to develop your base.

I don’t think Obama is a Republican. I’m unconvinced that he is some kind of socialist. I can see everything he has done (or failed to do) as an attempt to pay back his donors and constituents, in that order. He got his money from Wall Street and his ground forces from government employee unions and the SEIU. He only started fighting for tax increases on the rich when Congress cut him off. Is he a Cloward-Piven type of radical who wants to destroy the American system of government? It doesn’t matter. a fully corrupt politicians will do the same thing as that kind of radical, overspend until the country collapses.

The debate over taxing the rich is over. The rich no longer have enough to cover the annual costs of the government. We must reduce spending regardless of what taxes are increased on higher incomes. Revenue increases are secondary to spending, much like the debate over what to do about illegal aliens is secondary to how to secure the borders. Obama created the Stimulus, the Stimulus created the Tea Party.

Now that Newt Gingrich is basking in the limelight, the fools at MSNBC’s Morning Joe are trying to get Jon Huntsman next in line when Gingrich falters. Joe Scarborough is using the scorched earth strategy, calling Newt and Romney liberals compared to Huntsman, even though Huntsman is the candidate who refuses to even call himself conservative. Maybe some Republicans and Democrats who oppose Obama think a right of center Republican is the best foil for Obama, but they’re wrong.

When Carter ran for president in 1976, he won on the fact that he wasn’t Richard Nixon or part of his administration. Plus, the GOP stupidly nominated Ford over Reagan because Reagan was too polarizing. Carter’s vision for American was of a screwed up place that needed a lot of work and his administration reflected it. Reagan may have had a radically conservative vision for America, but at least he had a vision. We all know how George Bush 41 felt about the “vision thing.”

Voters may not like Obama much, but Wall Street still plans to give him money and unions still plan to campaign for him (and give him money). The Republicans need people to turn out to counter that. They need a candidate with a vision to rally behind and a willingness to point out all the flaws of their opponent. Of course, that person is Sarah Palin so I’ll be waiting for her endorsement. Please don’t pick Mitt Romney.

The Dark Side of the Farce

---

Via Hot Air, a new Ron Paul ad reminds Republicans that Newt talks out of both sides of his ass.

No Newt is good Newt.

This is an open thread.

---

It’s time for some fresh blood

Retire? Hell no! I plan to serve another 10 years.

---

Old guard fades from Dem ranks

Slowly but surely, the old guard of the House Democratic Caucus is fading.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), with his announcement Monday that he will not seek reelection in 2012, joins a growing list of senior Democrats who have retired or lost races in the last two years.

The departures rob the party of decades in accumulated legislative experience, but they also provide openings for younger House Democrats who have seen their path to leadership positions and top committee slots blocked by a cadre of Democratic elders in their 70s and 80s.

Democrats determine their committee chairmen largely by seniority, and the top three members of their leadership team, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.) and Assistant Leader James Clyburn (S.C.), are all over 70.

In the 2010 elections, committee chairmen John Spratt (S.C.) and Ike Skelton (Mo.) lost reelection bids. Appropriations chief David Obey (Wis.) retired in the face of a tough campaign. The three had collectively served more than a century in Congress.

Since the start of the year, four House Democrats who have served more than 20 years have announced their retirements: Reps. Dale Kildee (Mich.), John Olver (Mass.), Jerry Costello (Ill.) and Frank.

Top Democrats downplay the extent to which the retirements of the last two years represent a changing of the guard for the party.

---

How old is your congressional representative? How old are your senators? My congressman (Dennis Cardoza) is retiring because he has been redistricted out of a job. My senators are 78 (Feinstein) and 71 (Boxer). Boxer just got reelected and Feinstein is running again next year. They both took office nineteen years ago. Robert Byrd was in office for his ninth senate term when he died at the age of 92.

I’m not really in favor of term limits, but maybe we should consider age limits. What have we got to lose. It’s not like the current leadership has been doing a bang-up job.

---

The Final Occupation

---

Looks like Occupy La La Land is over:

Occupy L.A.: Police begin dismantling encampment

Hundreds of Los Angeles Police Department officers have deployed onto downtown streets to clear out the Occupy L.A. camp on the lawn of City Hall.

Columns of officers were seen swarming from several direction around City Hall and began to remove tents.

The massive deployment comes as police are facing down hundreds of chanting protesters at several intersections near City Hall. The protests have been peaceful and demonstrators were respecting the police lines.

Police have been converging on the stadium all evening as they prepare to take down the camp. In recent minutes, Metro buses filled with officers have left, headed downtown.
Some LAPD officers are already facing down protesters on the streets around City Hall. Deputy Chief Jose Perez, the incident commander for the night’s operation, said he had asked lawyers from the National Lawyers Guild — a group that has served as an informal intermediary between police and protesters — to fan out among the protesters and tell them they will have “a reasonable amount of time” to leave the park after the dispersal order is given.

“Those who want to be arrested will be. Those who don’t, won’t,” Perez said in a brief interview. The LAPD has closed off an area from Temple Street on the north to 3rd Street on the south and from Alameda Street on the east to Broadway on the west.

---

I’m not going to try to live blog this, but not surprisingly there are a disproportionate number of drama queens among the protesters. LOTS of cops too.

Live streams here and here

---

---

Worst Democrat Ever

It's not me anymore!

---

Obama’s Job Approval Drops Below Carter’s

President Obama’s slow ride down Gallup’s daily presidential job approval index has finally passed below Jimmy Carter, earning Obama the worst job approval rating of any president at this stage of his term in modern political history.

Since March, Obama’s job approval rating has hovered above Carter’s, considered among the 20th century’s worst presidents, but today Obama’s punctured Carter’s dismal job approval line. On their comparison chart, Gallup put Obama’s job approval rating at 43 percent compared to Carter’s 51 percent.

---

Guess what? Obama’s approval rating bottomed out just about the time Zuccotti Park got “occupied” and it’s stayed level or risen since then.

Just a coinkydink, I’m sure.

---

Cain “reassessing” candidacy

---

National Review:

In a conference call this morning, Herman Cain told his senior staff that he is “reassessing” whether to remain in the race. He will make his final decision “over the next several days.”

“Obviously, you’re all aware of this recent firestorm that hit the news yesterday,” Cain began, his voice somber. “First thing I want to do is say to you what I have said publicly: I deny those charges, unequivocally. Secondly, I have known this lady for a number of years. And thirdly, I have been attempting to help her financially because she was out of work and destitute, desperate. So, thinking that she was a friend — and I have helped many friends — I now know that she wasn’t the friend that I thought she was. But it was a just a friendship relationship.”

“That being said, obviously, this is cause for reassessment,” he continued. “As you know, during the summer we had to make some reassessments based upon our financial situation. We were able to hang in there; we reassessed the situation and kept on going. We also did a reassessment after the Iowa straw poll and we made another reassessment after the Florida straw poll. When the previous two accusations, false accusations, came about, we made another assessment. The way we handled those was, we continued on with our schedule. We made an assessment about what was going to happen to our support. But our supporters, and even some folks that we didn’t have as supporters, they stood with us, and they showed it not only in terms of their verbal support, they showed it in terms of their dollars.”

“Now, with this latest one, we have to do an assessment as to whether or not this is going to create too much of a cloud, in some people’s minds, as to whether or not they would be able to support us going forth,” Cain said.

“Over the next several days, we are going to continue with the schedule as usual,” he said. “I’ve got a major speech tonight at Hillsdale College on national security and foreign policy, and I will deliver it with vim, vigor, and enthusiasm. And then tomorrow we’ve got some media appearances scheduled. So we’re going to continue until we complete our assessment over the next several days.”

“But if a decision is made, different than to plow ahead, you all will be the first to know,” he said. “So until that time, I want to continue to thank you all for your support, thank you for your prayers. It’s taken an emotional toll, but the people in the audience tonight will never know it.”

“It’s also taken a toll on my wife and family, as you would imagine,” he concluded. “Any time you put another cloud of doubt, unfortunately, in the court of public opinion, for some people, you’re guilty until proven innocent. And so, the public will have to decide whether they believe her or whether they believe me. That’s why we’re going to give it time, to see what type of response we get from our supporters.”

---

I remember reading somewhere that once a couple starts talking about divorce the chances of them splitting up goes to ninety percent. I’m guessing the same is true of political campaigns – once you start talking about quitting you pretty much already have.

Cain would have been fun to watch in a general election campaign against Obama, but he had to get there first. Even if he is completely innocent of the allegations against him, he and his campaign staff did a horrible job of dealing with the crisis.

Like Bachmann and Perry before him, Herman Cain does not appear to be ready for prime time.

On the other hand, Newt Gingrinch may be the luckiest politician in the country right now.

I’m gonna start working on my Spanish. I want to get down there before the Mexicans build a fence.

---

More Evidence that Paulson belongs in jail

Another shocking story, this time from Bloomberg Businessweek. This goes back to July 2008, when Congress was panicking about Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac being the next dominoes to fall.

How Paulson Gave Hedge Funds Advance Word of Fannie Mae Rescue

On the morning of July 21 (2008), before the Eton Park meeting, Paulson had spoken to New York Times reporters and editors, according to his Treasury Department schedule. A Times article the next day said the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency were inspecting Fannie and Freddie’s books and cited Paulson as saying he expected their examination would give a signal of confidence to the markets.

A Different Message

At the Eton Park meeting, he sent a different message, according to a fund manager who attended. Over sandwiches and pasta salad, he delivered that information to a group of men capable of profiting from any disclosure.

Around the conference room table were a dozen or so hedge- fund managers and other Wall Street executives — at least five of them alumni of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., of which Paulson was chief executive officer and chairman from 1999 to 2006. In addition to Eton Park founder Eric Mindich, they included such boldface names as Lone Pine Capital LLC founder Stephen Mandel, Dinakar Singh of TPG-Axon Capital Management LP and Daniel Och of Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC.

After a perfunctory discussion of the market turmoil, the fund manager says, the discussion turned to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Paulson said he had erred by not punishing Bear Stearns shareholders more severely. The secretary, then 62, went on to describe a possible scenario for placing Fannie and Freddie into “conservatorship” — a government seizure designed to allow the firms to continue operations despite heavy losses in the mortgage markets.

Stock Wipeout

Paulson explained that under this scenario, the common stock of the two government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs, would be effectively wiped out. So too would the various classes of preferred stock, he said.

The fund manager says he was shocked that Paulson would furnish such specific information — to his mind, leaving little doubt that the Treasury Department would carry out the plan. The managers attending the meeting were thus given a choice opportunity to trade on that information.

He’s not the only one who was shocked.

William Black, associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, can’t understand why Paulson felt impelled to share the Treasury Department’s plan with the fund managers.

“You just never ever do that as a government regulator — transmit nonpublic market information to market participants,” says Black, who’s a former general counsel at the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. “There were no legitimate reasons for those disclosures.”

Janet Tavakoli, founder of Chicago-based financial consulting firm Tavakoli Structured Finance Inc., says the meeting fits a pattern.

“What is this but crony capitalism?” she asks. “Most people have had their fill of it.”

A Lawyer’s Advice

The fund manager who described the meeting left after coffee and called his lawyer. The attorney’s quick conclusion: Paulson’s talk was material nonpublic information, and his client should immediately stop trading the shares of Washington- based Fannie and McLean, Virginia-based Freddie.

Martha Stewart went to jail for much, much, less. Why is Hank Paulson still walking around free and rich?

“A guy who lives in my neighborhood”

---

During the 2008 primary campaign Barack Obama downplayed his relationship with former terrorist William Ayers:

STEPHANOPOULOS: …on this issue, general theme of patriotism, in your relationships. A gentleman named William Ayers. He was part of the Weather Underground in the 1970s. They bombed the Pentagon, the Capitol, and other buildings. He’s never apologized for that.

And, in fact, on 9/11, he was quoted in the New York Times saying, “I don’t regret setting bombs. I feel we didn’t do enough.” An early organizing meeting for your State Senate campaign was held at his house and your campaign has said you are “friendly.”

Can you explain that relationship for the voters and explain to Democrats why it won’t be a problem?

OBAMA: George, but this is an example of what I’m talking about. This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who’s a professor of English in Chicago who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He’s not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.

And the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8 years old, somehow reflects on me and my values doesn’t make much sense, George.

---

Ayers isn’t the only former BFF that Barack forgot he knew. He also got Obamnesia about his relationships with Tony Rezko and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

---

---

Bring back the draft!

---

Seriously, this “all-volunteer” shit ain’t cutting it. We need to draft Hillary and Sarah to run against each other in 2012.

That would change the current lose-lose line-up into win-win.

---

Spoonville

---

I decided to drop by Hullabaloo to see what our old friend David Atkins (aka “Spoony”) thought of the Obamacrats decision to abandon the white working class:

The New Realignment

[...]

Less educated whites have been a stumbling block for Democrats for decades. Democrats held them together under the New Deal coalition pretty much until the Civil Rights movement, after which the conservative movement successfully transposed a “cultural” elite trying to enforce race and gender equality over the financial elite that this group had resented previously.

Democrats had been trying to “win back” these voters for decades with compromises designed to assuage their anti-welfare, anti-equality sensibilities. But with current demographic trends, that’s increasingly unnecessary–even if it were possible. Ideally, the Democratic missions of securing the safety net, increasing the minimum wage and safekeeping middle-class jobs should appeal to less educated whites. But it won’t. A more strident progressive message would do a good deal to bring these voters back and convince them that Democrats best serve their interests, but it’s still mostly a lost cause. The right-wing propaganda machine has been very effective in creating a tribal mentality with these voters that will be nearly impossible to break.

For those most concerned with social issues, this development will represent a step forward: Dems will feel increasingly emboldened to openly support women’s rights, gay rights and the like without feeling the need to seek cover. Yes, minority groups tend to be more socially conservative on these issues, but they’re also not the defining issues on which minority groups are voting. Few Latinos will vote for a party of anti-Latino racists just because that party happens to agree more with them on the subject of abortion–not even if that party is led by the likes of Marc Rubio.

[...]

But all in all, it’s conservatives who should be most worried. They have doubled down on appealing to less affluent whties with a calumnious message of lies and pure hate, targeted to a disappearing demographic. And they’re counting on a magic hail mary pass to win back Latino voters with Latino figureheads after they have wrung every last drop they can out of white resentment. That’s not a sound strategy, and it won’t work for them over the long haul, no matter how much money they have to spend on it.

---

Ironic money quote:

“. . . a tribal mentality with these voters that will be nearly impossible to break.”

---

Whose tribe? OUR TRIBE!

Seriously, Spoony demonstrates every tribal stereotype the left uses against the right except jingoism, NASCAR and incest. He should type his screeds in sneer font.

Why would anyone want to stay with a party that holds them in such contempt?

---

It Just Might be a Lunatic You’re Looking for

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

The Constitution of the United States, Article II, Section 1

There are three qualifications to be president of the United States. You have to be a natural born citizen, at least 35 years old and be a resident for 14 years. The Constitution doesn’t even say you have to be white or a man. One president may not have even been a natural born citizen, Chester A. Arthur.

Every other qualification for the presidency is arbitrary. The executive branch has one simple task, decide close calls. The president can either sign or veto legislation, but can be overridden by a 2/3 majority. He can negotiate treaties, pending Congressional approval. When international business requires a head of state, the president is it.

When media personalities talk about qualifications, they mean previous experience being a politician. Generally, presidents are former governors. Others are former Vice Presidents. A small number held positions in Congress and jumped right into the White House. Most politicians at the federal level are lawyers. Nearly all judges are lawyers, too, even though there is no law requiring it.

If you look at Congress, you can tell it’s run by lawyers. They have mastered parliamentary process. The legislation is often voluminous and convoluted. Eliminating legislation always takes a back seat to compensatory legislation. The best way to fix bad law is to tweak it with more laws.

If you believe the political class, most of whom are the same legal minds who created the US government as it exists today, voting for a non-politician or one that isn’t deemed electable by a party is crazy. Benjamin Franklin, not a lawyer, said that doing the same thing over and expecting the same result is insanity. Maybe the electorate could do with going a little crazy.

Breaking – Woman accuses Herman Cain of 13 year affair

---

Via Hot Air:

Georgia Woman Claims 13-Year Affair with Herman Cain

An Atlanta businesswoman is breaking her silence, claiming she has been involved in a 13-year-long affair with Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, FOX 5 senior I-Team reporter Dale Russell sat down with Ginger White, who had an amazing story to tell.

“It was pretty simple,” White said. “It wasn’t complicated. I was aware that he was married. And I was also aware I was involved in a very inappropriate situation, relationship.”

In an exclusive interview on FOX 5 News at 6, Russell will tell you why White is speaking out now, and show you the records that she says back up her story. He also talks to Herman Cain, who denies the affair. Cain’s attorney, Lin Wood, released the following statement to just moments ago:

“Mr. Cain has been informed today that your television station plans to broadcast a story this evening in which a female will make an accusation that she engaged in a 13-year long physical relationship with Mr. Cain. This is not an accusation of harassment in the workplace – this is not an accusation of an assault – which are subject matters of legitimate inquiry to a political candidate.

Rather, this appears to be an accusation of private, alleged consensual conduct between adults – a subject matter which is not a proper subject of inquiry by the media or the public. No individual, whether a private citizen, a candidate for public office or a public official, should be questioned about his or her private sexual life. The public’s right to know and the media’s right to report has boundaries and most certainly those boundaries end outside of one’s bedroom door.

Mr. Cain has alerted his wife to this new accusation and discussed it with her. He has no obligation to discuss these types of accusations publicly with the media and he will not do so even if his principled position is viewed unfavorably by members of the media.”

---

I sure hope Herman Cain is guilty. Cuz if he’s not, he still got fucked.

---

Ginger White

---

The Brazile-Nut Coalition

---

The Future of the Obama Coalition

For decades, Democrats have suffered continuous and increasingly severe losses among white voters. But preparations by Democratic operatives for the 2012 election make it clear for the first time that the party will explicitly abandon the white working class.

All pretense of trying to win a majority of the white working class has been effectively jettisoned in favor of cementing a center-left coalition made up, on the one hand, of voters who have gotten ahead on the basis of educational attainment — professors, artists, designers, editors, human resources managers, lawyers, librarians, social workers, teachers and therapists — and a second, substantial constituency of lower-income voters who are disproportionately African-American and Hispanic.

It is instructive to trace the evolution of a political strategy based on securing this coalition in the writings and comments, over time, of such Democratic analysts as Stanley Greenberg and Ruy Teixeira. Both men were initially determined to win back the white working-class majority, but both currently advocate a revised Democratic alliance in which whites without college degrees are effectively replaced by well-educated socially liberal whites in alliance with the growing ranks of less affluent minority voters, especially Hispanics.

---

Hey, I know!

Let’s divide the working class by race – that way the white sneering class can retain control of the party!

Seriously – in what world do white elites have more in common with minority workers than they do with white workers or workers of all colors have with each other? The white working class should be a link between the other two, not their mutual opponent.

The article doesn’t say it but playing the race card will be a major component of this not-so new strategery and will exploit and widen the racial divide in the country, not heal it.

Identity politics suck.

---

Post-Clinton America

---

Bill Clinton: Hillary to Play ‘Major Role’ After She Leaves Obama Administration

Former President Bill Clinton revealed in an exclusive Newsmax.TV interview released this weekend that he has discussed with his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, her plans after she leaves the Obama administration.

[...]

Mrs. Clinton has stated publicly that she plans to step down at the end of President Barack Obama’s first term, even if he wins re-election in 2012. Will she seek out a new role in public life or remain just a private citizen?

Clinton told Newsmax that he has discussed the matter with her “a little bit.”

“I think she wants — and she has said publicly — to continue a lot of the work that she’s done, she did as a private citizen, as first lady, as senator and as secretary of state,” Clinton said.

“Around the world, she’s done an enormous amount of good in, you now, the so-called soft power areas, empowering women and girls, helping them, giving them access to capital, helping them make a living, promoting better healthcare practices.”

The former president added: “I think she will have a major role to play in the nongovernmental world. That’s what she plans to do, and I think she’ll do it well.”

---

When Hillary retires from her position as Secretary of State it will be the first time in two decades that neither Bill nor Hillary holds an official position in Washington.

Who will the CDS brigades hate when they’re gone?

---

---

Bloomberg FOIA suit reveals Massive Secret Fed Loans

You have to click on this jaw-dropping article to see the interactive graphic that shows which bank got how much, and to read how the Fed and our favorite Money Men gave banks billions without Congress having a clue.

Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks Undisclosed $13B

The Federal Reserve and the big banks fought for more than two years to keep details of the largest bailout in U.S. history a secret.

…

A fresh narrative of the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009 emerges from 29,000 pages of Fed documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and central bank records of more than 21,000 transactions. While Fed officials say that almost all of the loans were repaid and there have been no losses, details suggest taxpayers paid a price beyond dollars as the secret funding helped preserve a broken status quo and enabled the biggest banks to grow even bigger.

…

The amount of money the central bank parceled out was surprising even to Gary H. Stern, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis from 1985 to 2009, who says he “wasn’t aware of the magnitude.” It dwarfed the Treasury Department’s better-known $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. Add up guarantees and lending limits, and the Fed had committed $7.77 trillion as of March 2009 to rescuing the financial system, more than half the value of everything produced in the U.S. that year.

…

Lawmakers knew none of this.
They had no clue that one bank, New York-based Morgan Stanley (MS), took $107 billion in Fed loans in September 2008, enough to pay off one-tenth of the country’s delinquent mortgages. The firm’s peak borrowing occurred the same day Congress rejected the proposed TARP bill, triggering the biggest point drop ever in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. (INDU) The bill later passed, and Morgan Stanley got $10 billion of TARP funds, though Paulson said only “healthy institutions” were eligible.
Mark Lake, a spokesman for Morgan Stanley, declined to comment, as did spokesmen for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.
Had lawmakers known, it “could have changed the whole approach to reform legislation,” says Ted Kaufman, a former Democratic Senator from Delaware who, with Brown, introduced the bill to limit bank size.

I guess this guy is proven right once again:

I think there are people in the Fed and the Treasury who should go to jail for this. Ben Bernanke, Hank Paulson, Tim Geithner — some of the most successful white-collar criminals of all time.

Political Tourette’s

Darth Gingrinch

---

Jonah Goldberg:

Congratulations, and Don’t Get Cocky

Newt’s comeback, including the capstone of the Union Leader endorsement, is a truly remarkable tale. A lot of people — including many of us around here, starting with me — are eating crow over Gingrich’s return from the dead. And that’s good. It’s almost always a good thing when the conventional wisdom is overturned. It’s also good that, whether he wins or loses the nomination, he will be able to leave the field with his head held high. He clawed his way back through dogged will and ability. So again, good for him.

But I suspect and fear that Newt will interpret his comeback incorrectly and see his new front-runner status as proof he can discard all of the lessons-learned from his flame-out earlier this year. This is the moment where it’s going to be hardest for Gingrich to restrain his Newtness. This is the moment where perceived vindication breeds hubris. Already, he’s talking about teaching an online course from the White House, bragging that Obama can use teleprompters in their debates and trying to run as a general election candidate on immigration.

On their own, these are all fine even laudable. But when combined, among some Newt-watchers, they feel like omens that World Historical Newt is returning to the scene. He should fight that temptation and keep his nose to the grindstone.

---

Even the Big Dawg had some semi-nice things to say about Newt over the weekend.

But Newt’s biggest enemy is himself. In addition to hubris he suffers from Political Tourette’s Syndrome. He’ll be cruising along, doing fine and then he gets the uncontrollable urge to say stupid things.

After Susan Smith was arrested for murdering her two sons, Newt blamed Democrats:

“I think that the mother killing the two children in South Carolina vividly reminds every American how sick the society is getting and how much we need to change things. The only way you get change is to vote Republican.”

---

(It turned out that Smith’s GOP step-father had been shtupping her since she was fifteen.)

Here’s one of Newt’s other infamous pearls of wisdom:

“If combat means living in a ditch, females have biological problems staying in a ditch for thirty days because they get infections and they don’t have upper body strength. I mean, some do, but they’re relatively rare. On the other hand, men are basically little piglets, you drop them in the ditch, they roll around in it, doesn’t matter, you know.”

---

If history is any guide, sooner or later Newt will self-destruct. The question is when.

According to the latest polls, if Newt exercises self-control for a few more months he stands a good chance of capturing the not-Romney vote along with the GOP nomination. But can he do it for a whole year?

My worst nightmare is Obama vs. Gingrinch.

---

---

How A Charlie Brown Christmas almost didn’t happen

---

Lee Habeeb:

The more things change, the more things stay the same.

As far back as 1965 — just a few years before Time magazine asked “Is God Dead?” — CBS executives thought a Bible reading might turn off a nation populated with Christians. And during a Christmas special, no less! Ah, the perils of living on an island in the northeast called Manhattan.

[...]

Last but not least, the executives did not want to have Linus reciting the story of the birth of Christ from the Gospel of Luke. The network orthodoxy of the time assumed that viewers would not want to sit through passages of the King James Bible.

There was a standoff of sorts, but Schulz did not back down, and because of the tight production schedule and CBS’s prior promotion, the network executives aired the special as Schulz intended it. But they were certain they had a flop on their hands.

“They were freaking out about something so overtly religious in a Christmas special,” explained Melendez. “They basically wrote it off, like, hey, this is just isn’t going to be interesting to anyone, and it’s just going to be like a big tax write-off.”

Melendez himself was somewhat hesitant about the reading from Luke. “I was leery of the religion that came into it, and I was right away opposed to it. But Sparky just assumed what he had to say was important to somebody.”

Which is why Charles Schulz was Charles Schulz. He knew that the Luke reading by Linus was the heart and soul of the story.

As Charlie Brown sinks into a state of despair trying to find the true meaning of Christmas, Linus quietly saves the day. He walks to center of the stage where the Peanuts characters have gathered, and under a narrow spotlight, quotes the second chapter of the Gospel According to Luke, verses 8 through 14:

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill towards men.

“ . . . And that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown,” Linus concluded.

The scene lasted 51 seconds. When Linus finished up, Charlie Brown realized he did not have to let commercialism ruin his Christmas. With a sense of inspiration and purpose, he picked up his fragile tree and walked out of the auditorium, intending to take it home to decorate and show all who cared to see how it would work in the school play.

When CBS executives saw the final product, they were horrified. They believed the special would be a complete flop. CBS programmers were equally pessimistic, informing the production team, “We will, of course, air it next week, but I’m afraid we won’t be ordering any more.”

The half-hour special aired on Thursday, December 9, 1965, preempting The Munsters and following Gilligan’s Island. To the surprise of the executives, 50 percent of the televisions in the United States tuned in to the first broadcast. The cartoon was a critical and commercial hit; it won an Emmy and a Peabody award.

Linus’s recitation was hailed by critic Harriet Van Horne of the New York World-Telegram, who wrote, “Linus’ reading of the story of the Nativity was, quite simply, the dramatic highlight of the season.”

---

People have been complaining about the commercialization of Christmas since before I was born, but lately things have been getting weird. Does anyone really feel offended by the words “Merry Christmas?” Do we have to use the politically correct “Happy Holidays?”

If you’re part of my generation and you weren’t raised in a cave by Jehovah’s Witnesses, A Charlie Brown Christmas was part of your childhood experience, along with Rudolph, Frosty and the Grinch.

Think about that for a second – how many “Christmas” movies, television specials or songs even mention the birth of Christ?

Me, I’m not particularly religious. I was raised in a holy roller church but I went off the reservation a long time ago. However I don’t feel threatened by religion – my old one or any of the others.

But you shouldn’t complain about the commercialism of Christmas if you forget that He’s the reason for the season.

---

Let’s play Spot the Racism!

---

Watch the video above and see if you can spot the racism.

Make the jump to see if you’re correct:

RHIP

---

Court giggling! President Obama and first lady Michelle laugh their way through basketball game after he takes daughters shopping for books

President Obama took wife Michelle had their daughters to the basketball on Saturday – and appeared to have a whale of a time.

The first family flew from the White House in Marine One to Towson University in Maryland after buying books at a small DC book store in support of Small Business Saturday.

They watched a NCAA basketball game between Oregon State Beavers and Towson Tigers. Malia and Sasha sat a few rows behind as the President and his wife had a front row seat for the game.

The Obamas appeared relaxed and happy with Mr and Mrs laughing constantly through the game, except when he paused from the giggles to have a hot dog.

---

This another one of the “regular folks” stories we’ve been seeing lately – the ones intended to make us think that Barack and Michelle are just like us. But they’re not, no POTUS and FLOTUS can be.

It’s the reality of the world we live in that the President of the United States has to travel with an entourage of aides and security. That involves multiple vehicles, police escorts, traffic disruptions and financial costs. The First Lady needs nearly as much security as her husband.

When I first became a father it was a shock how much a baby changes your life – you can’t just run to the store anymore, you have to wait until the baby wakes up, change his diaper, make a bottle, get the car seat in the car, get the baby in the car seat, etc., etc. Even when you find a sitter you still have to plan a simple evening out for dinner and a movie.

Being POTUS comes with some privileges, but it should include some sacrifices too. Going to sporting events, nights out on the town and Broadway plays are things a POTUS should have to give up while they have the job.

It’s too expensive and disruptive.

(h/t DeniseVB)

Compare and contrast

---

I was struck by these two headline stories:

Clinton, Panetta work to defuse tensions after air strike in Pakistan

U.S. officials huddled with Pakistani leaders Saturday to defuse new tensions spawned by an attack that led Islamabad to shut down routes used to move supplies to American forces in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said.

In a statement issued late Saturday, the Pentagon said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton express their “deepest condolences for the loss of life.” The strike killed between two dozen and 28 Pakistani soldiers, according to media reports.

---

and

Obama promotes shops on “Small Business Saturday”

President Barack Obama, eager to spur growth and hiring, took his daughters on an early Christmas shopping trip on Saturday in Washington as the U.S. retail sector got its vital holiday season underway.

Promoting “Small Business Saturday”, the second annual event to help Main Street merchants in a tough U.S. economy, Obama visited a local bookstore with Malia, 13, and Sasha, 10, in the diverse, upscale Du Pont Circle area of downtown Washington.

“This is Small Business Saturday so we’re out here supporting small businesses,” said Obama, standing next to Malia who was hugging an armful of books to her chest.

To help merchants at the start of the most important shopping season of the year, Obama signed a message of support on Wednesday that noted small businesses “are the backbone of our economy and the cornerstones of our nation’s promise.”

---

Obama traveled to Pakistan when he was in college. He speaks some Arabic and was raised as a Muslim when he was a child. He is the Commander in Chief of our military. Pakistan is a nuclear power.

We have a 3 am moment and he’s out shopping.

SCOAMF

Thank Jeebus the grown-ups are in charge.

---

---