The Ramble: 12-15-11; Facebook Link is Up; Dems Running Away From OWS, Newt, Etc

Port Gibson, NY– I’m at the yard, about ready to take a rest break as this is written. By the time it goes up, I’ll be in The Bronx making a delivery.  Had some problems with the truck, in addition to the one I already had at Indianapolis on Monday. Thankfully, nothing earth-shaking. It’s running fine and I’m good to go.

I managed to get the Facebook links active. What gets posted here goes to Faceook, and comments are now interlinked. We’ll see how this goes.

• Dems running away from OWS: Glenn says:
  

  #OCCUPYFAIL: Dems Running Away. “A planned meeting today between the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Occupy Wall Street activists was scuttled late Tuesday after Roll Call inquired about it, highlighting increasing tensions between Democrats and the movement.”

  Well, I predicted this. The Democrats came headlong against the one group of morons who is even more unreasonable than they… The Right to Lice movement.

• But then again…. They could be dimly aware of other movements like this one that’s under discussion at OTB:
  

  Something remarkable is going on in China:

  For the first time on record, the Chinese Communist party has lost all control, with the population of 20,000 in this southern fishing village now in open revolt.

  The last of Wukan’s dozen party officials fled on Monday after thousands of people blocked armed police from retaking the village, standing firm against tear gas and water cannons.

  Since then, the police have retreated to a roadblock, some three miles away, in order to prevent food and water from entering, and villagers from leaving. Wukan’s fishing fleet, its main source of income, has also been stopped from leaving harbour.

  The original cause of the protest seems to be about the village’s land having been forcibly sold off. That’s not an isolated complaint.

  The OWS morons are diminished in the face of these people’s struggle… a struggle under the exact style of government the OWS morons are demanding. Perhaps the democrats are smart enough not to tie themselves on with OWS after all, given they obviously lack the ability, try as they might, to control it.

• Gingrich, addendum… Look, Abie Ruben…You ask a reasonable question….but here’s your answer….Gingrich, without a doubt has had occasional forays into liberal ideas. Being a thinker, he could hardly ignore such ideas utterly. But notice he always thinks better of them and comes back to the conservative roots…. by the path of actual thought.Romney, meanwhile, seems to land on liberal ideology without the benefit of actual thought… and as such stays there. A few examples are in my post of yesterday. So now, your turn to answer the question. What line must Romney cross before the establishment GOP gets the idea they might want a better candidate? It’s as Rush said today… the reason the GOP establishment is so igh on Romney is that they’re worried about the independant vote….
  

  Newt Gingrich

  Here’s the rule of thumb: 40% of people vote automatically vote Democrat, 40% of the people who vote automatically vote Republican. So both parties figure by default they’re gonna have their base. By default their base is gonna vote for ’em. They can test the 20%. Now, the consultants who live for this — this is their life, they make their living advising candidates — they all sell themselves on the basis that they know how best to get a majority of the independents. So, year after year, cycle after cycle, candidates who turn over their campaigns to these experts, the consultants, believe it. Romney said so! Romney said it yesterday. We played the sound bite.

  Now, this is all fine and dandy, except, if you don’t shore up your base, if you don’t get all of your assumed base (your 40%) then you could get all the independents, and you are still up a tree. The fastest way to lose the Republican base is to insult them, to take ’em for granted, or to make it sound as though you really aren’t one of them. I think there’s a big danger here — and the Republicans, you know, your specific complaint: Republicans have been told over and over, they believe it, that criticizing Obama, the independents don’t like it. They hate it and they’re gonna make tracks fast to the Democrat candidate, and they believe it. That’s why McCain wouldn’t criticize him. It’s maddening, because it’s so wrong, but that’s what they believe.

  That’s why McCain lost. The GOP estalishment is willing to sell the soul of the GOP to regain power. And it’s so stupid. Remember, gang, this fear is exactly why the GOP establishment didn’t like Reagan much. Until he won, of course. And in winning he proved this theory wrong. Yet the GOP establishment doesn’t remember this important lesson from their very own party history.

  I said yesterday:

  And assuming that Romney wins over Obama, what have we won? The answer is nothing. If Romney wins the nomination, what we have is a GOP, the party of Reagan, become indistinguishable from the party of Obama. In a choice between Liberal, and Liberal light, guess which way the electorate is going to go? If you need a history check on that, one need look no further than McCain’s loss to Obama.

  Those lessons still have not been learned, amazingly. And if they have not been learned, the GOP deserves to lose.

  Look, I’ll say this again. I don’t give a DAMN if the GOP wins. What I care about is conservatives winning office and acting like conservatives once given the reins of power. It’s that simple.

Hans Villarica, Atlantic:

New research shows that liquor consumption affects a person’s intention to have unprotected sex, one of the leading causes of HIV infection

PROBLEM: Alcohol consumption has long been implicated in the incidence of unsafe sex, the leading cause of HIV infection. It’s been unclear, however, if inebriation is the sole cause of this behavior or if personality traits are behind both liquor consumption and risky sex.

METHODOLOGY: Investigators in the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada, conducted a meta-analysis of 12 experiments that tested the cause-and-effect relationship between alcohol consumption and the intention to engage in unsafe sex. In these experiments, the researchers randomly allocated the participants to a drinking group or a sober group, and measured their intention to have sex without a condom.

Facts::

• There are no unsafe sexual acts.   There are only unsafe sexual partners.
• No condom can magically convert an unsafe sexual partner into a safe one.
• The effect of alcohol is not to heighten one’s intent but to rather lower their inhibitions.    The desire for sex is always it.   What alcohol consumption does it lower a person’s restraint.

It does seem that all girls’ look better at last call.

James at OTB suggests he knows why the GOP establishment doesn’t like Gingrich. He offers up the usual litany, but noplace does he offer the real reason:

As to the issues, Gingrich makes Mitt Romney look like a pillar of consistency.

Really, James?

Romney favored “Assault” Weapons Ban
Romney Favors Waiting Periods to Buy Handguns
Romney raised taxes on business by a total of $309 million
Romney increased taxes on business property
Romney joined a coalition lobbying congress to tax internet activity
Romney refused to support the Bush tax cuts while governor
Romney refused to sign the No New Taxes pledge when campaigning for Governor
Romney Balanced Budget with $500 Million in New Fees
Romney imposed “socialized” health care on Massachusetts
Romney supported abortion in general, and believes in sustaining Roe v. Wade.
Romney campaigned for Governor of Massachusetts as a pro-choice candidate, and was endorsed by a pro-abortion political group
Romney Approves of the Abortion Pill and Supports the Legalization of RU-486
Romney has a long history of promoting and furthering the homosexual agenda, and working closely with leading gay activists
Romney barred Boy Scouts from public participation in 2002 Olympics because of their Ban on Homosexual Scoutmasters
Romney unnecessarily (and unconstitutionally) implemented homosexual marriages in Massachusetts
Romney supported Racial preferences
Romney believes in the hoax of anthropogenic global warming
Romney supported the unconstitutional and wasteful “porkulus” spending
Romney supported the unconstitutional bailouts of bad business
Romney supported the assault weapons ban and Brady Bill
Romney believes illegal aliens should be rewarded with citizenship after violating our borders and breaking our laws

So, what you’re saying is that Romney still stands by these positions?
One wonders why he’s called “Conservative’ at all.

Finally, we’re told that he is certain to overturn Obamacare. Yet, since he authored and pushed through the legislature in Massachusetts a scheme so similar to Obamacare that Obama cites Romney as an author of the thing, for fear of lawsuits over copyright infringement, how are we to believe that he will go to Washington and obliterate such a law? Yeah, right.

Oh, and let’s remember, James… Romney, like most of the GOP establishment back in the day, didn’t support Reagan. Thought he was too extreme.

I guess he was just part of the GOP establishment. Right?

Make no mistake; I’ve not made up my mind about Gingrich’s yet.

Yet we are supposed to believe the establishment GOP when they tell us now, that Romney is conservatism’s best hope? Sorry, I honestly don’t think he is the best choice. As a matter of fact, I think he will do more damage than good. Granted, that he could beat Obama. Then again, that’s not all that high a bar to jump. Any one of the current GOP candidates could beat Obama. A little referred to factoid from the 1980 election was that so many people were so disenchanted with Jimmy Carter that Ronald Reagan became the “none of the above” candidate. I say again, anyone can beat Obama. At this point, I suspect even Jimmy Carter could beat him.

And assuming that Romney wins over Obama, what have we won? The answer is nothing. If Romney wins the nomination, what we have is a GOP, the party of Reagan, become indistinguishable from the party of Obama. In a choice between Liberal, and Liberal light, guess which way the electorate is going to go? If you need a history check on that, one need look no further than McCain’s loss to Obama.

There are no perfect candidates. There never has been. Even Reagan had his issues. But even in the imperfect list of candidates that the Republicans are now fielding, any one of them would represent conservatism better than Romney ever could.

The simplest and probably most direct explanation for the GOP establishment not liking Gingrich is that they’re not interested in being conservative. That becomes particularly evident when looking at Romney’s record.

From the BBC:

A Saudi woman has been executed for practising “witchcraft and sorcery”, the country’s interior ministry says.

A statement published by the state news agency said Amina bint Abdul Halim bin Salem Nasser was beheaded on Monday in the northern province of Jawf.

The ministry gave no further details of the charges which the woman faced.

The woman was the second person to be executed for witchcraft in Saudi Arabia this year. A Sudanese man was executed in September.

The Saudi have their collect head stuck up their camel back somewhere in what the Seventh Century.

What more reasons do we need to to become energy self-sufficient and force the Saudi to back to riding their camels rather than molesting them.

Daughter like Mother. Just as Chelsea Clinton’s mother thought sleeping in the residential wing of the White House somehow qualified her to run the executive wing, Clinton thinks being endowed with a famous name, her father’s nose and her mother personality, or lack thereof, gives her qualifications as broadcast journalist, from an under impressed Washington Post:

It’s no surprise whatsoever that Chelsea Clinton didn’t electrify broadcast journalism with her debut Monday night on NBC’s “Rock Center With Brian Williams,” because she has no experience in broadcast journalism. She didn’t cut her teeth with live coverage of strip-mall blazes in Sacramento. She never did weekend weather in Wichita Falls. She didn’t blow the lid off mail-order ham scams in Des Moines. (Who — besides everyone working in TV news who did each and every one of those things — says you have to do all that?)

Rather, what was surprising to see on Monday night’s show is how someone can be on TV in such a prominent way and, in her big moment, display so very little charisma — none at all. Either we’re spoiled by TV’s unlimited population of giant personalities or this woman is one of the most boring people of her era.

Hat tip and reax:   Bryan Preston, PJ Media:

Brutal, but accurate, even if it comes with a dose of jealousy. Clinton is a noob, and it shows. Her vocal quality is poor, her voice-over has no zip or personality, and she says nothing interesting or surprising during the taped or couch segments. She is very forgettable. Name her “Chelsea Johnson” and she might get an on-air slot in Tyler, TX. If there’s an opening and the station is a little desperate. Freshman level broadcasting classes could fix some of this, but she never took those classes.

[…]

NBC hired her for two reasons: Having a Clinton on the marquee brings in eyeballs just for the gawk factor (and generates blog reviews that 99% of reporters will never generate), and to help season her for her eventual political life. She’ll run for office. Getting used to being on TV and delivering a focused message is part of her training for that. And when she runs, unless the relationship sours NBC will have the most access to her. Win win

Chelsea Clinton a demonstration that you can take the trash out of Arkansas, but you can’t take the trash out of a Clinton.    Bad news for Miss Clinton, there may be no faster way to kill her wannabe political career, than for her would be voters to actually see, and hear her.

Hat tip image:   Tennessee Mountain Woman

Indianapolis, IN–I’m still at Indy.

At Indianapolis this morning, all ready to go, and looking good.

When I got done writing yesterday’s Ramble, I did my usual pre-trip inspection of my truck and found that I had oil coming from one wheel seal. This is a possibly dangerous situation, with fire or possibly a lack of braking power being the upshot. At the very least it would fail a DOT inspection. So I had to get the thing fixed. Took most of te day to get the thing in. Turned out to be a 79 cent gasket. For this, I lost a full day… some 500 miles of driving. Annoying, but that’s the nature of this game.  Since I had oil down the side of the truck and on the wheel particularly, I washed the truck. I’m glad I did because the combo of my truck and the new trailer I just picked up, looks super….. (grin) Today I’m grabbing a load here in Indy, and I’m off to Williamson, NY, to arrive there sometime tomorrow.

• Beck, etc:Let me preface my comments here by saying I’m not convinced of Newt Gingrich being the answer to the question of the next election. That said, I am convinced Mitt Romney is not the best answer that question. I consider that Romney lost to McCain because as weak a conservative as McCain is, Romney’s record shows him to come down on the left of McCain on most issues, and is thereby more likely to lose the election…. And even if he wins the election the benefits of Romney winning are as close to naught as no matter.To the main issue:
  There is much to be said for Glenn Beck and his efforts. He’s been a stalwart among conservatives for some time, now, and for a time, he has shone above the majority of conservative voices. His efforts to connect the dots in our recent history and tracing the progressive movement and it’s threats to our nation and our culture are spot on. As with anyone else, when they’re right, I’ll say so…. And his record is one of being correct in the vast majority of what he says.But, not now, and I’m troubled by what I see.
  

  Glenn Beck

  I find Beck’s on -air reactions to Gingrich suspect at best, given his support of Romney, whose liberal record I find inexcusable. Such comments make the question of “what s Beck about” unfathomable, or at least nearly so.

  Calling Gingrich a progressive, given Romney’s liberal legislating, and Gingrich’s conservative legislative record, is bad enough, and certainly shows a willingness to stretch the truth…. But, his pulling the race card out of the deck the other day, as always with those using that crutch, to my mind, shows he’s holding a position which is in search of a reasonable supporting argument. He really has no other arguments against Gingrich, and for Romney. That’s troubling on several levels.

  First to equate Gingrich and his record, to Obama with his, is laughable right at the off. The real history of the thing is that in terms of actual law, and actions while a part of the government, Gingrich comes down to the right of most of the Republican party, much less Obama, who is without any question the farthest left president we’ve ever had in our 200+ year history. Rather like comparing a full-size tractor trailer rig to a so-called “smart car”. They both have wheels and can usually run under their own power. Past that….

  Secondly, the damage done to the perception of race issues among the voting public, done by the misuse of that” we’re only voting against Obama because we’re all racists” meme plays right into the hands of the real racists the Jacksons and Sharptons of the world, along with the whole of the left. That argument will play better for Obama, than for Romney. Stink Progress is already trumpeting this Beck quote as backing their longtime assertion that the Tea Party is racist.  The Atlantic, too. Beck ought to know better.

  Thirdly,Gingrich’s legislative record certainly comes down to the right of Romney, which is what mystifies me… Why Beck would lie about that, strikes me as an open question, for lie it is. I begin to understand Andy Breitbart’s anger, here.

  Oh, and Glenn? I know you’re reading, me hearty… site tracking is a wonderful thing…. you might want to check into this quote from Romney himself where he calls himself and his views “progressive”.

  One possible answer to this question of how Beck landed in this quagmire, is Beck’s connections with Heritage, who has made no bones about the idea that Romney is their guy. You may recall Heritage is the group that thought Romneycare was just the thing back when Hillarycare came up. Instead of arguing on the moral and principled ground that healthcare was beyond government’s purview, they opted for the limp-spined centrist approach of coming up with their own government run plan, with the aid of Romney.  When a government boot is on your throat, it hardly matters, you see, which party the boot belongs to. I tell you this; If that connection to Heritage is what’s driving this disconnect, Beck and his people have tainted themselves beyond my ability to measure. This is disappointing, at least. And further, it raises questions about Limbaugh who is similarly connected.

• Lessons: Over at the NY Post, we find….
  

  On New Year’s Day, in addition to a hangover, America will wake up in the pale winter light to one grim consequence of the Bush administration’s never-requited desire to be loved by the left: the traditional 100-watt light bulb will be banned for sale in the United States.At the height of the panic over “man-caused global warming” (one of history’s greatest frauds), lawmakers felt compelled to be seen to do something, and Edison’s bright bulb made a handy fall guy.

  Look again, where it says…..”To be loved by the left.” That lesson.. that the left will never love us…  was never learned by Bush, … either one…. nor even to this day by the GOP leadership. There’s a willingness on the part of the GOP leadership to sell the soul of the party, in a vain attempt to get the left to love the GOP. W hich is precisely why the establishment GOP is so fond of centrists like McCain and Romney… and yes, Bush….(either one) and why, as I keep having to remind folks, the GOP leadership wasn’t too fond of Reagan. (I point once again to the 76 convention)

  There is no reason to think that the left will ever love conservatism. We don’t need the left’s love, people. We need their defeat. Reagan showed us the way on that. Be conservative, and unashamedly so. That’s what wins elections for Repulicans. The mealy mouthed centrism that the GOP establishment is pushing, in the form of Bush, Dole, Bush, McCain and now Romney is how Republicans lose elections. It’s that simple.  And they’re not getting the message.

• Oh… and about Newt: Roger Simon says it well:
  

  “Sure Gingrich has an idea a minute, many of which are bad, but at least he has ideas. At least he is thinking. And — guess what — he says what he thinks. Politicians aren’t supposed to do that. But Gingrich reminds me more of a Steve Jobs or a Richard Branson than he does of a politician, and that is a good thing because politicians these days are the kind of people that make me want to bang my forehead against the desk.”

  Whereas for my money, Romney is a game show host. (Nod to Sting)

• ObamaCare is Cement Shoes for Obama’s re-election: If you have any doubts that Obama will not be re-elected, consdier these numbers from Scott Rasmussen.

Dim Won, a/k/a Dumbo, b/k/a Barack Obama defended his economic success, lack thereof, on Sixty Minutes, from Politico:

Barack Obama offered a spirited defense of his presidency in an interview that aired Sunday on “60 Minutes,” framing the 2012 election as a “contrast in visions.”

Reax, William Teach, Pirates Cove:

Man Who Accepted Nomination In Front Of Greek Temple Says He Didn’t “Overpromise”

Alternate title: “man who said his ascendency stopped the rise of the seas and healed the earth says he didn’t overpromise”

More reax, from Robert Stacy McCain,  Only McCain:

Obamanomics is simply ignorance as the basis of policy. The more you know, the less you like it, and his only hope of re-election is to promulgate counterfactual ideas and persuade voters that they must choose between two lies: His dishonest characterizations of his own policies and his dishonest characterizations of Republican policies.

And more, rom Richard A. Epstein, Hoover Institution:

The painful ignorance that is revealed in these remarks augurs ill for the long-term recovery of America. With the president firmly determined to set himself against the tides of progress, innovation will be harder to come by. The levels of unemployment will continue to be high as the president works overtime to impose additional restrictions on the labor markets and more taxes at the top of the income distribution—both backhanded ways to reward innovation and growth.

The problem, therefore, with the president’s speech is not that it is demagogic in tone. The problem is that it is intellectually incoherent. As a matter of high principle, the president announces his fealty to markets. As a matter of practical politics, he denigrates and undermines them at every step. It is a frightening prospect to have a president who lives in a time warp that lets him believe that the failed policies of 1935 can lead this nation back from the brink. His chosen constituency, the middle class, should tremble at the prospect that his agenda might well set the course for the United States for the next four years.

To illustrate Epstein, we have few coal miners producing more coal that we did at the turn of the previous century.from Source Watch:

Since 1900, technological developments in the coal mining industry have dramatically increased miner productivity; thus, while U.S. coal production is currently at a record high, mining employment is a fraction of what it was during the heyday of coal mining in the 1910’s and 20’s

Year Total U.S. Coal Production Total U.S. Coal Miner Employment Annual Production Per Miner

1900 269,684 448,581 0.60

[…]

2006 1,162,750 82,595 14.08

If adhered to Dumbo’s Luddite Economics, we would have to be trudging back to the coal mines.    Any takers?

I once explained the gist of the Laffer Curve to two waitresses in less than two minutes.  Is the exhulte4d Dumbo dumber than a waitress?   I don’t mean to impugn waitresses, how they not noted for allegedly editing the Harvard Law Review.

And finally from Karen, likes this analogy from Dumbo, via Lonely Conservative:

“And no matter how well we’re steering the ship, if the boat’s rocking back and forth and people are getting sick and…they’re being buffeted by the winds and the rain and…at a certain point- if you’re asking, “Are you enjoying the ride right now?”

You really should not be the captain of a ship when you are  too dumb, uneducated, or just plain stubborn to read a compass.

The jerk o the day, Bill Johnson, from  Al.com:

Bill Johnson, a former top state official who made a failed bid for governor in 2010, has been living a secret life in New Zealand as a sperm donor for lesbian couples, a New Zealand newspaper reported today.

Johnson, a Republican from Prattville, has spent much of the past year in Christchurch, New Zealand, as a contractor working on the recovery effort from a deadly earthquake that struck the city in February.

The New Zealand Herald reported in its Sunday edition that Johnson, who is married, has been using an alias to meet women who want help getting pregnant. The newspaper said it confirmed at least nine women had received sperm donations from Johnson, and at least three were pregnant.

It is long post time to stop providing live sperm to unmarried women.   No moral man, or women,  should be willing concieve a child who will never know who his, or her father is.     Johnson may  have breed his bastards in New Zealand, but sin does not stop at the national border.    Right, now Johnson has fatherws three bastards with a potential of six more.    Bow many bastards will be enough to sate Johnson’s lust?

Indianapolis, Indiana--.. As this is written, I am in Indianapolis for the third week in a row.  They’ve got me picking up new trailers out here and ferrying them back to Rochester… an effort to upgrade the entire fleet of trailers that we have.  These that I’ve been bringing back are pretty good shape and will make a nice addition.  Last week ran a little over 3000 miles, the week before that ran a little under 3000 miles.  In the trucking business, if you’re a single driver as opposed to a team driver, 3000 miles is as good as you usually get during the week.  Normally I get around 2500.  Since I get paid by the mile, you can pretty much figure out why I’m happy about the additional miles.

On Friday of last week I finally got the hotspot working on my mobile phone, which basically is how I tie to the Internet through my laptop.  You can understand that I felt kind of cut off by this malfunction.  It’s good to have it back.

• John Corzine, et al:I’ve already mentioned his case in passing, but it deserves a little more in the way of examination.Most of you know that he testified before Congress the other day. It was far from a pleasant meeting. Corzine whines when pressed, that he doesn’t know where the money went.The bottom line is I think he’s a liar. I’m sure the guy knows full well where the money went, and is covering for the regime. How do I know this? Look closely at who profited by it. Yep. George Soros.Soros has made a rather substantial profit on $2 billion worth of Italian debt. It’s my suggestion that Corzine took his direction from Soros, and got left holding the bag. There are very few will want to say that, particularly among the Democrats. Yes, many of the little people , smaller investors, retirees and so on, lost everything. But what does that matter to the likes of Soros? And, for that matter, to Corzine, or any Democrat?Think, now; Have you ever noticed that when Democrats get caught stealing it’s a tragedy for the thief, and not for the victims? At least, that’s how the press likes to play on it. We always told about how leftists have the best of intentions. But it never seems to work out that way, does it?

  But, now, when Bernie Madoff does the same thing, that tone more closely resembles that of an inquisition. The whole thing is blamed on private enterprise, “the rich” and so on and so on, ad nauseam.The only difference that I can detect between the two individuals is that the prosecution of Corzine would cause large PR problems for the left and its agenda.It’s a little difficult, after all, to suggest that you’re the champion of the “little guy” if the general perception is that you’re out to screw the little guy, as liberals have repeatedly done for 75 years and more.

  Whereas, the prosecution of Madoff, plays directly into the hands of the left and its agenda. So what it is, is this; that until such time as there is a massive change in the power structures of Washington… i.e.; the removal of the Democrats from power, Corzine will never be prosecuted, and Madoff will continue to be crucified in the press and by Washington politicians.

  Now, mind, this is not being offered as a defense of Madoff. The guy has a total slime ball, and deserves what he gets. But Corzine deserves no less harsh treatment, and because he’s a well known Liberal, he will never get it, so long as Democrats have any say in the matter.

  What amazes me that anyone is still surprised by all of this. We keep electing big government Democrats and then wonder why they keep doing the same kind of crime against the people… It’s because they’re given the power to do so. It makes approximately as much sense as setting your dream home up on a live volcano in Hawaii, and then wondering why you have lava in the living room.

• The Race is the Republicans’ to lose:CBS is now reporting that 54% of those polled say that Obama doesn’t deserve reelection. Certainly, CBS is far from a bastion of conservative thought. If there was a way to tilt these numbers, believe me, they would be. In fact, the numbers are probably far far worse than is indicated. So in the minds of the American people Ob’ doesnt deserve the office that he now has. The question is, will anybody else deserve it more?  There is however a certain logic that applies here, that many people are discounting.  They also tended to discount it back and Jimmy Carter’s day.  That being the prevailing notion that just about anyone would be better than what we had.  That’s pretty much our situation now.  A goodly number of centrists back in the day, pulled the lever for Ronald Reagan on the idea that he couldn’t possibly be worse than Jimmy Carter.  Of course, a better choice couldn’t have been made.  Wrong reason, right outcome. Let’s remember, people, the GOP establishment wasn’t too happy about Ronald Reagan, either.  Remember the 76 convention, people.  The fact is, any one of the current republican candidates could not only win, but they will do a better job than Obama has.  The central point there is that it’s not too high a bar to jump over.  The question, however, is who will do the best of the jobs. With that as the measurement, Romney is definitely out. Indeed, Romney to my mind makes thw whole “I’ll vote for anyone over Obama” thing harder to defend, assuming Romney is in fact nominated. Beyond that, as far as I can see it’s an open field yet.
• The Debate:I have to tell you, that Romney is seeming to me rather desperate. He’s well behind in Iowa. His performance out there isn’t helping matters.  He doesn’t seem to understand why. He’s gotten self set for the final round, but he hasn’t figured out a plant to get through the primaries yet. He seems to be operating under the misconception that he is the choice. He is not. And Iowa proves it.
• Invented people. Newt Gingrich is absolutely correct when he suggests the Palestinians are an invented people.  And I don’t give my hot crap who saying that annoys.  The fact of the matter is that the only reason the rest of the Islamic world is pursuing the matter as they are is because it can be used to which against the great devil, the United States.  The sad part is, we let them.   Meanwhile, Romney is now on record as saying that Islam is not a violent faith.   I will point out that Mohammed was a warlord.  He led his followers into battle as they conquered the Middle East and North Africa.  To my mind that pretty much sums it up.  Islam is without question a fundamentally violent cult.  And I’ll ask the same question here as I asked of W… are you simply trying to impress the folks in Dearborn?   If anyone needed confirmation that Romney is disconnected from reality, they need it no longer. It is a fact that the religion of Islam does in its holy book support lying to an infidel.  So, how are we to know if the supposedly “moderate” Islamists are sincere?   This is downright scary stuff coming from somebody who wants to occupy the White House, as I suggested with W.   Gingrich has this correctly, and Romney is delusional. It’s been ten years since the 9/11 attacks.  If he isn’t figure this stuff out by now, he not only does not deserve to be in the White House, but he needs serious watching.  Supervision.
• Really?Bruce says:
  

  Ezra Klein: A larger welfare state might mean a smaller deficit. Honestly, that’s his premise.  You can read it here.  He bases his argument mostly in health care costs.  Obviously where he tries to go with it is toward a single payer system.  But he uses Germany as the model.  Anyone, does Germany have a single payer system?  No, it has a public health insurance program that covers 88% of the population.

  Well,I’ve said it often enough… Klein is probably the most dishonest blogger on the web. This is merely another example. The guy’s going to do anything, say anything, to support the agenda. That doesn’t mean what he says has any relationship whatsoever with reality. It should be no surprise that there is a large degree of similarity between the lack of honesty that Klein exhibits and that which (insert your favorite leftist, here ) exhibits.

• Iran: Something,  apparently, happened at the Iranian nuclear facility. This suggestion is currently, that it was an explosion.  But nobody’s quite sure.  Including a rainy and officials, if we’re to take their conflicting reports on the matter.   Meanwhile, it is perhaps a little known fact that the largest Iranian embassy in the world is in Venezuela.  And Obama tells us this is progress. Sleep well, tonight.

I have for a long time found Ann Coulter fascinating. Occasionally wrong, mostly correct.  I have several of her books on my shelves here.  I even carry one in the truck that I haven’t finished reading.  That said, it fascinates me that  Coulter who had nothing but derision for John McCain, thinks that Mitt Romney is the answer to this country’s problems. I have to wonder what is motivating this misdirected admiration for Romney. Seems to me that Ann has become far too enamored with the idea of being part of the GOP establishment.  That’s dangerous territory, as far as I can see.  Thing is, it’s the only plausible explanation for her recent writings.

To the main attraction; The difference between Romney and Obama right now is that Obama has a more solid record of consistency, in terms of their political leanings, than does Romney.

It should have surprised no one when Obama told us last week that he thinks the free market has never worked.  I mean, hell, I warned of this the day the Democrats nominated him, that he actually thinks this way….(to the derision and catcalls of a lot of GOP loyalists and certainly the usual lefties)  …but Romney has no such consistency.  Granted, that the remainder of the Republican field at this point is looking less than perfect.  But the fact that so much of the GOP rank and file is giving all those admittedly flawed people a serious look, should tell any observer that there is a good deal of dissatisfaction with Romney among that rank and file.    Romney and his record is why.

This apprehension is more than justified.

Romney is now supposedly a pro gun small government conservative who subscribes to the pro life way of thinking.  This, given his history of left-leaning  is about as convincing to me as OJ Simpson’s claim that he will search every golf course in the country until he finds his wife’s killer…. more or less. Even Polifact seems to agree on this point.

Romney has a governing record and for that matter a record of campaign rhetoric in Massachusetts that leans so far to the left that it’s difficult to distinguish between Romney and Obama. Look back, for example, at the rhetoric flying around the room when Romney ran against Ted Kennedy.  There is some speculation, that Romney was simply saying that to get elected…. He was trying to trick the Liberal Massachusetts voter.  Forgive me if I don’t find that overly impressive.  Either he was saying anything he needed to say to get elected, or he really is that Liberal.  Seems to me that neither one of those choices is very appetizing. Let’s look at a few other salient points that form the Romney record:

• Romney didn’t support Ronald Reagan. (As I’ve said in the past, the GOP establishment wasn’t too happy about Reagan running. Kinda tells you where Romney was and is, huh? Interesting fact about a man now trying to claim Ronald Reagan’s legacy.)
• Romney favored “Assault” Weapons Ban
• Romney Favors Waiting Periods to Buy Handguns
• Romney raised taxes on business by a total of $309 million
• Romney increased taxes on business property
• Romney joined a coalition lobbying congress to tax internet activity
• Romney refused to support the Bush tax cuts while governor
• Romney refused to sign the No New Taxes pledge when campaigning for Governor
• Romney Balanced Budget with $500 Million in New Fees
• Romney imposed “socialized” health care on Massachusetts
• Romney supported abortion in general, and believes in sustaining Roe v. Wade.
• Romney campaigned for Governor of Massachusetts as a pro-choice candidate, and was endorsed by a pro-abortion political group
• Romney Approves of the Abortion Pill and Supports the Legalization of RU-486
• Romney has a long history of promoting and furthering the homosexual agenda, and working closely with leading gay activists
• Romney barred Boy Scouts from public participation in 2002 Olympics because of their Ban on Homosexual Scoutmasters
• Romney unnecessarily (and unconstitutionally) implemented homosexual marriages in Massachusetts
• Romney supported Racial preferences
• Romney believes in the hoax of anthropogenic global warming
• Romney supported the unconstitutional and wasteful “porkulus” spending
• Romney supported the unconstitutional bailouts of bad business
• Romney supported the assault weapons ban and Brady Bill
• Romney believes illegal aliens should be rewarded with citizenship after violating our borders and breaking our laws

I mean, exactly at what point did he turn away from being a big government type? The record above would seem to suggest he hasn’t…. Regardless of how much influence he’s tried to buy among conservatives.

Finally, we’re told that he is certain to overturn Obamacare. Yet,  since he authored and pushed  through the legislature in Massachusetts  a scheme so similar to Obamacare that Obama cites Romney as an author of the thing, for fear of lawsuits over copyright infringement,  how are we to believe that he will go to Washington and obliterate such a law? Yeah, right.

Yet we are supposed to believe the establishment GOP when they tell us now, that Romney is conservatism’s best hope? Sorry, I honestly don’t think he is the best choice.  As a matter of fact, I think he will do more damage than good.  Granted, that he could beat Obama.  Then again, that’s not all that high a bar to jump.  Any one of the current GOP candidates could beat Obama. A little referred to factoid from the 1980 election was that so many people were so disenchanted with Jimmy Carter that Ronald Reagan became the “none of the above” candidate.  I say again, anyone can beat Obama.  At this point, I suspect even Jimmy Carter could beat him.

And assuming that Romney wins over Obama, what have we won?  The answer is nothing.  If Romney wins the nomination, what we have is a GOP, the party of Reagan, become indistinguishable from the party of Obama.  In a choice between Liberal, and Liberal light, guess which way the electorate is going to go?  If you need a history check on that, one need look no further than McCain’s loss to Obama.

There are no perfect candidates.  There never has been.  Even Reagan had his issues.    But even in the imperfect list of candidates that the Republicans are now fielding, any one of them would represent conservatism better than Romney ever could.  That’s a message that needs to be sent, and pronto, to the GOP establishment.

Indeed, so obvious is this message that it seems logical to ask if the GOP establishment is at all interested in actually being conservative. But that is another post.

Editors note…. edited for flow after original posting

Well I never said that Mrs. B.J. Clinton the Smartest Woman in the World. Did you? The Secretary of State, who is never ready for three AM phone call, get smacked down by her infamous reset button, from Paul Richter and Sergei L. Loiko, ,Los Angeles Times:

ladimir Putin accuses Clinton of inciting protests in Russia

Vladimir Putin says Hillary Rodham Clinton’s criticism of Russian parliamentary elections emboldened protesters. The incident may further damage already strained U.S.-Russia ties.

Dose any sober person, believe that Mrs. Clinton belongs any where near the executive wing of the White House?

Chris Christie shows Occutards how to think on your feet, all without a teleprompter, video:

Hat tip: DMartyr, Jawa Report.

Sloatsbburg, NY–  I’m making the last 500 or so miles today, of a week that’s seen me crossing a dozen or more state lines, and running nearly 3000 miles, from the midwest to New Jersey. A productive week.  I also managed to get my internet connectivity working, finally.

The snow has started.  This pic was taken on I-81 yesterday morning, just outside Scranton, PA. I usually worry about such matters, snow does make driving more of a challenge… but what the bleep… it’s December.

The real issue is that the snow started so late this year, I worry we’re gonna get clobbered the rest of the season. Just as there’s a balance in the world that for every human progress, there is an Al Gore, Nature has a way of balancing the books that usually disregards the people such balances affect.

• The case is made: When even Leftists start saying that Kagan should recuse herself.… maybe it’s time for the rest of us to demand it.  Look, Segall is a moron…. there’s no way this Obamacare is constitutional…  but when even he says the set up with Kagan smells, you know it’s undeniable.
• Landfill?  I want the unspeakable bastard responsible for this buried…. alive… in the same landfill.
• Permanent Vacation? From my older boy, Matt:
  

  Obama recently said he’d be staying back in Washington, postponing his vacation, to make sure the payroll tax cuts go through… Not like it makes a difference; he could be in the White House, in Hawaii, in Kenya (where, BTW he was born) or on Mars; he’d still be just as ineffective and as useless… And then sure as shootin’ he’d blame Republicans for all of it…

  Oh, of course. But let’s remember why his mind was changed.  Even when not added to the vacations he’s already taken at our expense, this thing paints a picture of a grade one elitist… an uncomfortable position to be in when trying to run as a friends of the “little people”. And let’s recall, please that Obama is trying to tie the tax cut to the keystone pipeline. I swear that man is doing everything he possibly can to kneecap our economy, and thereby our country.

• Cut the income tax rate: Pinkerton has a good article in the WaTi you need to read. It’s my take that no matter who beats Obama will take his advice. Along with other tax cuts, of course.
• Tom Hanks, you’re a bleeding idiot. That is all. 
• Mumia will escape justice: That he won’t fry is an injustice of incalculable depth.
• Gingrich? Yeah, maybe. I’m thinking about it.  That we’re down to this tells me just how out of touch with the rank and file the GOP leadership is, though. I’ll be writing on this over the weekend.

Professor Ann Althouse:

Natalie Johnson says Macy’s fired her for telling a male he could not use the women’s dressing room.

The customer was shopping for women’s clothes…

[…]

She’s trying to say that because her opinion is based on religion, she’s been discriminated against. I don’t see how that can work. It’s not her store

The professor needs to get real.  Human beings are one of two sexes, to wit male or female.  Whereas gender is only  a property of nouns, to wit masculine or feminine.  Sex is not malleable, and gender is not  a property of human beings.  Those who are born male will die a male and vise versa. It is time for Macy’s to stop denying basic biology and get with the Twenty-First Century.

Can anyone explain what differences there are between Bermie Madoff and John Corzine, that would account for the differences in the press coverage they are each getting?

Addendum:  (DavidL)

Eric, the difference between Bernie and JC (Jon Corzine) is that the former is a competent crook.   Bernie knows where the money went.   JC  does not have the first clue,  from Ed Morrissey, Hot Air:

Jon Corzine goes to Capitol Hill today to answer questions about the disappearance of as much as $1.2 billion in the collapse of MF Global under his leadership. The former Democratic governor of New Jersey and current fundraising bundler for Barack Obama might not have too much to say to the House Agriculture Committee. In his opening statement, he plans to tell investigators that he had no idea that customer money had been raided to float the company’s bets on risky European sovereign debt — and then will apparently invoke the Fifth Amendment the rest of the day:

About the only thing the ‘rats know about economics is that it  is  hard.