Our instruments went awry with a Canadian pundit named Lorne Gunter yesterday, and it was a puzzlement.
But aha! because Brian D., a commenter at Deltoid, provides the following:
As an Edmonton native, I’ve met Gunter myself, and if I had to pick any more well-known personality to describe him as, I’d say “Penn Jillette on Valium”. I wouldn’t characterize him as stupid (I’d prefer “willingly misinformed”; on nonscientific social issues he’ll make arguments that appear sound until you realize his premises are garbage and he has no interest in fact-checking them or revising them), but I will say he’s horribly, horribly jaded if anyone suggests anything that might be interpreted as implying that someone would prefer to slightly infringe on his personal liberties. As a result, if global warming comes up, he’ll jump on any argument that discredits it, lest it suggest that business-as-usual is causing a problem, even if it flies in the face of basic science — and if he can criticize liberals at the same time, he’ll do it at double-speed.
Doesn’t surprise me that the National Post runs his stuff. ‘Paleoconservative’ is the best description I’ve heard of it in years.
Alas, our 2D, Venn-diagram modeling scheme is unequal to the task. Plus, meanwhile, the meretricious National Post is supposed to be running serial excerpts of you-know-what, by you-know-who. I looked, but couldn’t find one there today — although perhaps this similar story displaced it, given the greater local interest:
“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for,” Barack Obama said in yet another memorable election-night speech on Super-Confusing Tuesday. “We are the change that we seek.” […] The man’s use of pronouns (never I), of inspirational language and of poetic meter — “WE are the CHANGE that we SEEK” — is unprecedented in recent memory.*
Right, never I. Which is why Obama said none of the following in a February 13 speech:
…the responsibility I intend to meet as President of the United States … they won’t drown out the voices of working families when I am President … I realize that politicians come before you every election … And that is the kind of President I want to be … I didn’t spend my career in the halls of Washington, I began it in the shadow of a closed steel mill on the South Side of Chicago … Those are the voices I carried with me to the Illinois state Senate, where I brought Democrats and Republicans together … where I led the fight to provide $100 million in tax relief … They’re the voices I carried with me to Washington, where the first bill I introduced was to make college more affordable; where I fought against a bankruptcy bill that made it harder for families to climb out of debt; and where I passed the most sweeping lobbying reform in a generation … So when I talk about real change … cause of my presidency from the very first day I take office … I am certain that we can keep America’s promise … So today, I’m laying out a comprehensive agenda … A few weeks ago I offered an economic stimulus package … I proposed sending each working family … I am the only candidate in this race who’s proposed a genuine middle-class tax cut … And I won’t wait another ten years … Well I believe the reason people … and that’s what we’ll do when I am President … I know how expense [expensive?] this is. At the beginning of our marriage, Michelle and I were spending more … So I’ll create a new and fully refundable tax credit worth $4,000 … And I’ll also simplify the financial aid application process … I’ll expand the child care tax credit … and I’ll double spending on quality afterschool programs … I’ll expand the child care tax credit … I’ll institute a five-star rating system … When I first arrived in the Senate, I opposed … I know those kind of antics might make sense in Washington … When I’m President, we’ll reform our bankruptcy laws … I’ll close the loophole … And I’ll make sure … I’m proposing … I won’t stand here … But I also won’t stand here … who I’m talking to or the election I’m running in. I don’t know about a time-out, but I do know this – when I am President, I will not sign … I believe that … I know that General Motors … But I also know … And I believe … I want it to thrive right here … future I’ll fight for … And that is why I’ve paid for every element … why I’m standing here … I look forward to working and fighting to make it real[.]
Maybe Klein was thinking of this guy when it comes to abusing we and favoring inspiration over substance?
Together, we will renew America’s purpose. … we love you a lot. We’re proud of you … So tonight, we vow to our nation we will seize this moment of American promise. We will use these good times for great goals. … We will confront the hard issues … And we will extend the promise of prosperity to every forgotten corner … We have seen a steady erosion of American power … We will. … yet we do not share that gift with everyone … We will. … We have the public resources … We will. … show we have grown up before we grow old … We will. … We heard it during World War II … We heard it in the civil rights movement … we resolve to be the party … We will write not footnotes but chapters in the American story. We will add the work of our hands to the inheritance of our fathers and mothers and leave this nation greater than we found it. … We know the test of leadership. … We will strengthen … We will set it on firm financial ground … we will give you the option … We should end it. … we expect them to learn … so we will abolish the death tax … so we will reduce tax rates for everyone … we will lower the bottom rate … We will give our military … we improved our schools … We moved people from welfare to work. We strengthened our juvenile justice laws. … And we cut taxes, not only once, but twice. We accomplished a lot. … We will give low-income Americans tax credits to buy the private health insurance they need and deserve. … We will transform today’s housing rental program … we will support the heroic work of homeless shelters and hospices … We must give our children a spirit of moral courage … We must tell them … we must teach our children the values that defeat violence … we must usher in an era of responsibility.
The question is rhetorical really, but still: how dumb is Joe Klein?
* Unprecedented in memory –> I can’t bother to actually check when was the last time this happened. (But keep in mind I can’t even remember what I did last summer.)
This just in: the super-fabulous Monica Goodling, one of ATL’s all-time favorite people, is engaged!
Monica Marie Goodling, of Alexandria, is engaged to be married to Michael Krempasky, of Falls Church. The wedding is planned for later this year.
The future bride, a consultant, previously served as senior counsel to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and White House liaison at the U.S. Department of Justice. She graduated cum laude from Messiah College and received J.D. and M.A. degrees from Regent University.
Mr. Krempasky is a senior vice president at Edelman, a full-service, global public relations firm. He is also a founder of RedState, a leading conservative blog.
The couple requests donations to the RNC in lieu of presents. Gifts of nude statues will be returned unopened along with prayers for the sender’s soul. And U.S. Attorneys who show up at the wedding without first demonstrating the secret Republican handshake will be fired, fired, fired.
Above: Synergy without teh sin!
Anyway, sincerest S,N! congratulations to my old friendMike Krempasky, who later this year will become only the fourth Redstate.com contributor to get laid in this millennium (and only the third if we discount Leon Wolf’s episode with a chicken, as it seems correct, if a tad heartless, to do).
[Mental note — Tic-Tac’s bound to be at the wedding, and surely someone will be taking pictures.]
Republican presidential candidate John McCain defended his belief that U.S. troops will need to stay in Iraq for decades Monday but said the unpopular war will soon end “for all intents and purposes.”
McCain said his potential Democratic rivals have distorted his January comment that U.S. forces may need to remain in Iraq for up to 100 years. Speaking at a campaign event in suburban Cleveland, Ohio, he said that referred to a long-term American presence similar to those in South Korea or Kuwait.
“My friends, the war will be over soon … for all intents and purposes, although the insurgency will go on for years and years and years,” the Arizona senator said. “But it will be handled by the Iraqis, not by us.”
Nope, I got no idea how to reconcile this.
If the insurgency will go on for years, how will the war be over? If it can be handled by Iraqis, why do we need over 140,000 troops to stay there indefinitely? And does McCain not see that the key difference between the American presence in South Korea and Kuwait and the American presence in Iraq is that the South Koreans and Kuwaitis are not, in fact, launching a decades-long insurgency against American forces?
If either Obama or Hillary manages to lose to this guy, they will be on my shitlist for the next 100 years. Or until the war is over. Whichever happens first.
Shorter Ramesh Ponnuru: Some Washington Post writer doesn’t think he’ll burn in hell for voting Democrat, but I beg to differ.
Shorter Larry Kudlow: Damn, Hillary must be on the rag — er, I mean, depressed. That’s it. Depressed.
Shorter David Frum: The environment could be fixed if the commie tree-huggers would just stop hating on wholesome businessmen.
Shorter Phil Kerpen: Here’s an awesome idea: Mike Huckabee for Senate. It’d put him back in the GOP’s good graces, and his victory would let rich Arkansans make out like bandits.
Shorter David Freddoso: The Democrats’ plan for fighting AIDS in Africa would require wholesome Christian charities to share resources with baby-killing atheists who hand out condoms.
Shorter Kathryn Jean Lopez: The more countries John McCain adds to his ‘to be bombed’ list, the more the election will slip through Barack Obama’s fingers.
Shorter Peter Hoekstra: Treasonous Democrats took a vacation rather than fix FISA according to our Dear Leader’s precise specifications, so now intelligence agencies have to suffer through a bunch of ‘due process’ bullshit and as a result, al-Qaeda is free to terrorize America at will.
Shorter Andrew C. McCarthy: It’s not ‘fear-mongering’ to argue that relying on FISA to protect us is basically like signing a suicide pact.
Shorter Pete Hegseth: I think I know why [cough dolchstoss cough] the media and Democrats refuse to trumpet all the good news about Iraq [dolchstoss].
Shorter Rich Lowry: We’re winning in Iraq, where Americans are regarded as liberators and the natives welcome indefinite occupation.
Shorter Mark Steyn: Since the Clintons have always basically acted like movie stars, it’s possible, though unlikely, that their natural constituency of super fag homos in the Faggotty Fag Democratic Gaywad Party will bail Hillary out of her difficulties in the primaries.
Today brings exciting news and an end to a time in my life that has proven far more successful than I ever dreamed. Beginning on March 1, I will begin working for Michelle Malkin, a friend, mentor, and writer I have long admired. She has offered me a position as writer at Hot Air, and my blogging will appear exclusively there.
Called “Captain Ed” by his readers, Ed is a father and grandfather living in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, a native Californian who moved to the North Star State because of the weather.
After our failure last time (see below), we’re determined to work the bugs out of the equipment. The first task is to achieve an accurate null-reading. Let’s zero out the settings.
Ah. As you can see, it looks perfect now.
Above: turban contemporary
Let’s input another set of quantities. Here’s a Matt post from Blogs For Victory (formerly Blogs For Bush):
UPDATE: Of course it’s a non-issue. I’m not suggesting it implies anything. What should be the topic is that the Hillary campaign is apparently behind the release of the photo…
UPDATE: How predictable… our friends on the left are apparently either too stupid realize or just don’t care that it was Hillary’s campaign that put the photo out, because they’re blaming us “right wingers” for daring to talk about it.
The question before us – if Obama secures the nomination – is whether or not we, the people of the United States of America, are willing to turn our government over to a man of such clearly substandard qualifications? There is, perhaps, a chance that a President Obama will be a quick study and become a competant President, but if he is elected he will be the first man so positioned in at least a century…
That seems about right, doesn’t it?
Jeez, I’m not seeing anything here that might be causing the problem.
Brad adds: Nothing is funnier than when people misspell “competent.” Nothing.
