Ann Coulter: John Vincent Coulter

Ann Coulter on her father:

The longest baby ever born at the Albany, N.Y., hospital, at least as of May 5, 1926, who grew up to be my strapping father, passed away last Friday morning.

Hat Tip:  John Hawkins, Conservative Grapevine.

I know me and Bit already shed our crocodile tears for the departed Philip Agee.   However a like item caught my eye in the morning fish wrapper, from the Associated Press:

His wife, Giselle Roberge Agee, told the Associated Press that Agee was hospitalized in Havana on Dec. 16 and underwent surgery for perforated ulcers. His death, she said, was the result of a related infection. He had lived primarily in Hamburg, Germany, but kept an apartment in Havana, she said

The fish wrapper also mentioned the body was cremated.   Did not find that particular version of the story on line.    So think about this, Agee had what seemed like some what routine surgery in a country for which Micheal Moore lauds as the standard for medical care.   Fidel Castro and Yassar Arafat were not available for comment.

Agee died not a  direct result of the surgery but from a related infection   Had the surgery taken place in the United States it seems like the type of case where the barrister John Edward made his living, medical malpractice.

Lucky for Raul Castro, Cuba enjoys sovereign immunity from the results of her medical care and the evidence has already been destroyed  So sorry John.

Glenn notes:

PROPHECY: Last week, Jonah Goldberg wrote:

Imagine the Democrats do rally around Obama. Imagine the media invests as heavily in him as I think we all know they will if he’s the nominee â?? and then imagine he loses. I seriously think certain segments of American political life will become completely unhinged.

Now note this email from an Andrew Sullivan reader:

Watched the NH returns with some friends last night, and something quite unexpected happened when the AP called it for Clinton — inexplicable ANGER. I was surrounded by people in their early 30’s, registered Democrats, receptive to the Clintons in the 90’s, and I swear I thought someone was going to throw their wine glass at the tube during her ‘victory’ speech.

And that’s just one primary! All is proceeding as Jonah has foreseen. I wonder if Glenn Greenwald has figured things out yet. Probably not . . . .

Interesting. Understand,  though; this is not a postitive attachment to Obama, so much as it is a revulsion for Hillary Clinton.

The Jawa Report:

The US military released footage from a UAV showing al-Qaeda in Iraq taking a man from a trunk and murdering him. The CNN reporters call the footage, “shocking” and “spectacular” After mentioning the discovery of five severed heads they this shows that Iraqis take the brunt of the violence in Iraq.

Here.

WTF? What if the MSM had shown people the real truth of what these people do from the start? On a much wider scale than sites like Jawa can provide.

If people had seen what happened to Menchaca and Tucker. If they had seen what happened to Daniel Pearl, Paul Johnson and other civilian hostages. If they had seen what happened to countless Iraqis, shot and chopped and murdered mercilessly. Maybe they would have recognized the pure evil of it and fought. There would be no more of that moral equivalency crap.

I’m not convinced.

Look, if such arguments against our involvement in Iraq were being driven by fact to begin with, some exposure to the facts you point up might actually have had the effect you suggest. As it is, such arguments cannot be defeated by mere facts, because facts never had anything to do with those arguments in the first place. Trust me, the left and the press (Redundant, I know) would have managed a way to place blame on the US for it all.
Don’t misunderstand me; I agree, they should have been shown, often. That such things ahve NOT been shown regularly and often, I place in the same basket as calling for a halt to showing the WTC attack, years ago. Typical slanted press. I just don’t think that showing such would have the effect you think it would.

Little Green Footballs notes:

The Only Man Who Can Save America tries to save himself from The New Republic’s article: Ron Paul Statement on The New Republic Article Regarding Old Newsletters.

“This story is old news and has been rehashed for over a decade. It’s once again being resurrected for obvious political reasons on the day of the New Hampshire primary.

“When I was out of Congress and practicing medicine full-time, a newsletter was published under my name that I did not edit. Several writers contributed to the product. For over a decade, I have publically taken moral responsibility for not paying closer attention to what went out under my name.”

The problem for Dr. Paul is that there was a lot of this stuff. It stretches credulity to the breaking point to believe he had absolutely no idea what was being published in his name for that long. Doesn’t pass the sniff test.

First of all, I have to say up front I’m less than fully comfortable with TNR being the source of this article. As I suggested the other day, a liberal paper like TNR is going to come out on the idea that Paul is not leftist enough. They also have a habit of making stuff up as they go along.  Doubtless they have motivations of their own which do not involve truth. TNR has long since been given over to trying to make the world safe for socialists. They’ve often enough been caught at outright fabrications as to make them something of a legend in the world of the leftist press. (See also, Beauchamp) Yet, even Paul isn’t denying the story, so I suppose in this case we can take the content of the story as given and go from there.

And the newsletter isn’t the only source of the odor. There are Dr. Paul’s numerous appearances on the whacked-out conspiracy radio show hosted by 9/11 Troofer Alex Jones—and there are all those Nazis and New World Order types hanging around, who somehow, somewhere got the impression that Ron Paul was their kind of candidate.

And there’s the heart of it all.  Paul made no effort to denounce these idiots. It all fits and very well indeed. If that were not so no single article could damage him. As it is…. Well, there’s no defending him.

As for Paul’s continuing popularity among a small segment of voters, I can only suggest that their devotion to the man is not based in the facts. If it were, the anti-war nutbags following him around like little puppy dogs would have been repulsed by his record of overt bigotry.  Keep in mind, my friends, most of Ron Paul’s current followers come down somewhere between Jimmy Carter and Jesse Jackson politically. Why would they turn such a blind eye to Ron Paul’s bigoted past? What explains this? What purpose could such devotion be serving?

Here’s the thing; By now it should be obvious even to his drooling legions that Ron Paul has no chance whatsoever of winning his bid to be nominated, much less the White House itself.  The only thing that Paul and his people could hope to do is to split the Republican vote.  Now think also; Can we take the fact that until Paul came along most of the people were devoted Liberal Democrats, as an indication of their true motives? Might this explain why so many leftists have signed on to Paul’s campaign? A desire to split the Republican vote?

I hear you asking about numbers…. ” You can’t possibly expect Ron Paul even in splitter mode, to get more than one or two percent of the overall vote” … and you know what? That’s true…. (There are some states where he’s played heavier, too) …but think, now; The last several cycles, we’ve been within one or two percent of 50/50.  How much of a split would it take to throw the election, do you suppose?

Ace has a video up.    I am not sure if it is an authentic Paulbot video.   How does one verify such things.   However the video does represent exactly how I feel about the Paulbots.

Good show Ace.

Is Fred Thompson more popular now than Mitt Romney?

Yep. Gallup thinks so, anyway.

Michelle has the story.  The Reverend Al Sharpton has opened his big yap again.   This time the Reverend is demanding the Golf Channel fire Kelly Tilghman orer  inappropriate remarks she made in reference to Tiger Woods.  Tilghman has apologized for her remarks and Woods has accepted her apology.   Done deal.

Yet the Reverend Sharpton is not statisfied and he still wants Tilghman fired.   Gee Reverend what ever happened to the Christian concept of forgiveness?

Yet speaking of apologies, the Reverend Sharpton has never apologized for calling Steven Pagones a rapist, nor has Sharpton paid the slander judgement due Pagones.    There is an apology due and it is not from Tilghman, but from the Reverend.  

Pay up Al or simply shut up.

Word from MSNBC that Bill Richardson is quitting his bid for the White House.

Word also is, he’s denying the report.

I’m reminded of a movie:

MINSTREL (singing): Brave Sir Robin ran away
ROBIN: No!
MINSTREL (singing): Bravely ran away away
ROBIN: I didn’t!
MINSTREL (singing): When danger reared its ugly head,
He bravely turned his tail and fled
ROBIN: No!
MINSTREL (singing): Yes Brave Sir Robin turned about
ROBIN: I didn’t!
MINSTREL (singing): And gallantly he chickened out
Bravely taking to his feet
ROBIN: I never did!
MINSTREL (singing): He beat a very brave retreat
ROBIN: Oh, lie!
MINSTREL (singing): Bravest of the brave Sir Robin
ROBIN: I never!

And you know, if it wasn’t for the old man in Scene 24, we’d never have known he was even trying to be ruler of the world.

Ni!

(PS: And before you start, yes, I take the election very seriously. Bill Richardson, on the other hand, is very hard to take seriously… and given his polling numbers, and his turnouts in the first few states, apparently everyone else suffers the same lack. I’m simply taking it to the next level. Now go and change your armor.)

TLC is hosting a reality show titled Miss America Reality Check. It features the 52 contestants for the Miss America title including GI Jill, Jill Stevens. In an effort to engage viewers and boost ratings, TLC is offering the viewer the chance to add a 16th finalist, by voting for their favorite. Let’s ensure that Jill is a finalist.

BBCT:  Black Five and Chuck Simmins 

We saw something very clever in the last week of this campaign coming out of Iowa, going into New Hampshire, we saw a sensitivity factor. Something that Mrs. Clinton has not been able to do with voters that she tried in New Hampshire.

Not in response to voters — not in response to Katrina, not in response to other issues that have devastated the American people, the war in Iraq, we saw tears in response to her appearance. So her appearance brought her to tears, but not Hurricane Katrina

Jesse Jackson, Jr, via Michelle Malkin.

• Memo to the Paulbots: If 9/11 was an inside job, you’d not be alive to talk about it today. Think about all of what the hijackers had to do that day to accomplish what they did. You really think your elimination is such a challenge to people who could pull all that off? And yes, Alex, I mean you.
• At least three times, today so far, I’ve seen people commenting that all McCain did in New Hampshire, was escape the political noose. I’m not sure about that line of thinking, but there’s much to credit it.
• Hillary Clinton meanwhile, benefited from capturing a lot of undecided women voters. This, it’s said explains the wild variance between the polling and the outcome. I see MoDo asking if she can cry her way back to the White House. How ironic, that one of Clinton’s longtime enablers should ask such a question.
• Balko says he’s “Disappointed’ in Ron Paul’s campaign, and in Ron Paul, himself. Well, sorry, Radley, but most of us knew the guy was a fool, so we have nothing to be disappointed about. What’s with YOU?
• Paul, for his part, is saying the quotes posted in the his newsletters are not his. While true, this seems weaselly at best, since it is his newsletter, and one presumes those quote would not be there if they didn’t find some agreement with Paul himself. If not,  can we accuse Paul of pandering to racists and bigots? As Drezner says in his headline on the point: “Hey, I’m just the publisher… don’t look at me..”
• Toranto says the Opinion Journal’s being changed. If anything surprises me about this it’s that it took so long following the buyout for them to understand it badly NEEDED some cleaning up.
• Rudy’s in trouble in Florida.
• Boortz is mumbling today about a large number of ‘healthcare’ driving callers to his show this morning. He’s not the only one; I’ve seen several shows in the northeast ahve the same issue pop up today…. all caller driven. Hmmm. Let’s see… Hillary Clinton wins in New Hamshire, and suddenly everybody’s sick and needs to argue for the taxpayers to pay for their healthcare. Explain to me how the woman pulling the levers and spinning the dials on this freakshow isn’t Hillary Clitnon.

Chris Matthew describes himself as brutal on Mrs. Clinton:

“I think the Hillary appeal has always been about the mix of toughness and sympathy. Let’s not forget, and I’ll be brutal, the reason she’s a US Senator, the reason she’s a candidate for President, the reason she may be a front runner, is that her husband messed around…That’s how she got to be a Senator from New York. We keep forgetting it. She didn’t win it on her merit, she won because everybody felt, ‘My God, this woman stood up under humiliation,’ right? That’s what happened. That’s how it happened. In 1998, she went to NY and campaigned for Chuck Schumer as almost like the grieving widow of absurdity, and she did it so well and courageously. But it was about the humilation of Bill Clinton.”
 

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Hat Tip:  Texas Sparkle.

I am not sure what is going on here.   My theory is that the MSM fell in love with the Barack Obama boom and at least some of the media now see Mrs. Clinton as an obstacle which needs to removed

Then Mrs. Clinton knows about being brutal:

So at one point in this story do you know the media is treating the subject as if he may be guilty?  From the Associated Press, via Seattle Times:

A drifter charged with kidnapping a 24-year-old hiker led authorities to her body Monday in the mountains of northern Georgia, investigators said, hours after a judge denied him bond in her New Year’s Day disappearance.

From the second word, drifter.   Whenever a person without a home, a.k.a homeless, is a suspect or charged with a crime, the media describes him as drifter or transient.    The term homeless is not used to describe suspects.   So if you use the media has a guide, the homeless never commit any crime.   However the same can not be said about drifters, bums and transients.

Here’s one guy who will decidedly not be missed….

HAVANA —AP– Philip Agee, a former CIA agent who caused outrage by naming former colleagues, has died following ulcer surgeries, Cuban state media reported Wednesday. He was 72.

Agee quit the CIA in 1969 after 12 years working mostly in Latin America at a time when leftist movements were gaining prominence and sympathizers.

His 1975 book “Inside the Company: CIA Diary” alleged CIA misdeeds against leftists in the region and included a 22-page list of purported agency operatives, infuriating U.S. officials who said it had endangered agents’ lives.

Agee’s U.S. passport was revoked in 1979. After years of living in Germany — occasionally underground, fearing CIA retribution — Agee moved to Havana.

Granma, Cuba’s Communist Party newspaper, said Agee died Monday night and described him as “a loyal friend of Cuba and fervent defender of the peoples’ fight for a better world.”

The guy sold out his soul, and his country, trying to make the world safer for socailism.  May he forever roast somewhere quite warm.

Addendum: (David L)

Exile in Cuba.  How delicous!  Dead at Seventy-two, the SOB got off easy.   Wish he could have lived to a hundred.