Tucker Carlson: Homophobe?

Tucker Carlson opined both on Larry Craig and his personal experence.  Listen to the video clip.   Pay attention to end.  Now ask yourself, what would be the leftstream media’s reaction  if a Jerry Falwell, or Rush Limbaugh had admitted to battery on a homosexual predator?

Meanwhile in the alternative universe known as Atlantic, Steven Clemens, actually excuses the sexual predator.

I am going have to muster my best Winston Churchill to say a few good words about anybody who aggrevate Atlantic.

I’ve been watching this nonsense with Larry Craig, with a somewhat jaundiced eye.  Personally, my estimate is that he has approximately 48 hours to be a senator.  Perhaps decision will occur over the weekend to be effective on Monday, but I tend to doubt it.

Part of his problem, at this point, is that he won’t shut up to save his butt.  Which is precisely the function, by the way, that shutting up would perform, had he given it a chance to work. It did not.

I wouldn’t be able to say too much as regards his integrity, but if you really wanted to save his job, he could have taken the path of Gary Condit, Gary Hart, Ted Kennedy, (ANd for that matter, Patrick Kennedy, too) Bill Clinton, Gavin Newsom and Jim McGreevey, Gary Studds, Barney Frank, and so many others that David and I have blogged about here.

Oh, wait, he did that. The people I’ve listed here didn’t shut up, either.  Of course, the louder they streamed, the louder the democratic party as a whole screamed, too.  Of course, it was labeled as “understanding”.

Hmmm.
Perhaps the what is being illustrated here is the difference between the Republican party as a whole, and the Democrats;

When the Democrats that I’ve listed above, were caught in their particular misdeeds, instead of being kicked out, they were reelected.  indeed, to get removed from office once elected while being a democrat, one would have to do one of two things; they would have to do a Michael Vick on a handful of puppies and kittens, or they would have to have a reputation for going against the democrat lockstep, as James Trafficant did. Or, Joe Lieberman.

Getting the picture, yet?

Addendum: James Joyner comments

I made a change in the way WordPress handles text formats last night. at that time, everything looked OK.  After coming home from work this afternoon I noticed a number of things I was dissatisfied with. I’ve changed it back.  Hope that didn’t cause any confusion.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards told a labor group he would ask Americans to make a big sacrifice: their sport utility vehicles.

The former North Carolina senator told a forum by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, yesterday he thinks Americans are willing to sacrifice.

Edwards says Americans should be asked to drive more fuel efficient vehicles. He says he would ask them to give up SUVs.

Flock off John. Sacrifice your mansion. Then we can talk.

Hat tip photo: Counterance Blog.

Addendum I: (David L)And the SUV you in on, as well. Well thanks to the Sister, I now know that the pig drives an SUV himself:

Hat tip photo: Ben Smith.

Addendum II: (Bit) Actually, he has TWO of them. Hume, tonight:

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards says he wants people to give up their sport utility vehicles. Edwards told a labor group Tuesday that Americans should drive more fuel-efficient vehicles and called the U.S. “the worst polluter on the planet.”Edwards’ campaign concedes he does own a hybrid Ford Escape SUV, along with a 2004 Chrysler Pacifica midsize SUV, but says he uses that less often now.Edwards was also asked about the apparent contradiction of asking Americans to sacrifice while he lives in a 28,000 square foot mansion in North Carolina. He replied that he came from nothing and worked hard all his life — saying, “I have no apologies whatsoever for what I’ve done with my life.”

 

 

(Emph is mine)Yes, well, neither does anybody else, John. Yet you expect them to sacrifice things that you will not.We actually had a Ford Escape for a while. Heck of a truck, that one. Got about 24 on the highway. Not too bad, really. we bought it for dealing with the snow around here. When that lease on that vehicle was up, we turned around and bought our current SUV, the Buick Rainier. Which, while getting a slightly lower 21 to the gallon on the highway, it also has the capability of towing 7000lbs.. A quality the much smaller Escape lacked. Edwards doesn’t use the Escape much anymore, by his own words, but DOES use the Pacifica, which gets… around 17mpg.

Of course, if I had as big a house as John Edwards has, I would need the Pacific of the drive from one end of it to the other comfortably, wouldn’t I?

Just a thought, John, but if you’re going to make a call for “national sacrifice to save the planet” and “be patriotic ” and if you are going to claim that you are fighting for “the poor” don’t you think it might be a good idea to not be what you’re complaining about?

Captain Ed’s questions, this morning seem reasonable:

Right at the beginning of the post, I’m going to state that I find Larry Craig’s conduct in the Minneapolis-St Paul Airport reprehensible. I find his conduct during his arrest even more so, obviously trying to intimidate the arresting officer by giving him the Senate business card. Looking for sexual partners in public restrooms reflects very badly on Craig, and makes his political posturing on “family values” a joke.

All that said, I think we have to ask ourselves about the nature of the crime itself. After reading the complaint, it hardly makes for a good case for police intervention, let alone convictions on disorderly conduct:

“I could see Craig look through the crack in the door from his position. Craig would look down at his hands, ‘fidget’ with his fingers, and then look through the crack into my stall again. Craig would repeat this cycle for about two minutes,” the report states.Craig then entered the stall next to Karsnia’s and placed his roller bag against the front of the stall door.

“My experience has shown that individuals engaging in lewd conduct use their bags to block the view from the front of their stall,” Karsnia stated in his report. “From my seated position, I could observe the shoes and ankles of Craig seated to the left of me.”

Craig was wearing dress pants with black dress shoes.

“At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moves his foot closer to my foot. I moved my foot up and down slowly. While this was occurring, the male in the stall to my right was still present. I could hear several unknown persons in the restroom that appeared to use the restroom for its intended use. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area,” the report states.

Craig then proceeded to swipe his hand under the stall divider several times, and Karsnia noted in his report that “I could … see Craig had a gold ring on his ring finger as his hand was on my side of the stall divider.”

Let’s stipulate that all of these actions are a well-known prelude to sexual encounters, even encounters conducted in public restrooms. Even so, nothing Craig did should constitute a crime, with the possible extreme interpretation of battery by touching his foot to the undercover officer. A series of signals that consist of foot-tapping and hand-swiping harms no one but the reputation of the man using them.

Quite correct, and agreed on all points… and Ed gets into further discussion on this. RTWT.
Make no mistake, here; I’m with Ed when he calls the situation reprehensible.   Still, that leaves us with a couple of questions about how to proceed.
Craig pled guilty to the Disorderly conduct charge, incidental to attacking the cop…(Though even there, it seems an extreme reading of the statute..) But does that add up to him being forced out of the Senate, by means of law?

Addendum:  (David L)   On one toe, Ed Morrissey is a great blogger and writer.  I don’t believe Ed is a lawyer.  On the other toe, the Volokh Conspiracy is a legal webside, which leans liberal.  There, Dale Carpenter asks. “What was Craig’s crime?”   It seems questionable under Minnesota law, that even sex in a closed public restroom stall would qualify as a crime.  No sexual act has even been alleged

One, I have this gnawing feeling that there major pieces of the story missing.

Two, as crimes go in Washington, this isn’t much.  There are senators with dead bodies laying around.   Don’t expect me to get too excited over a “wide stance” and unsolicited toe tapping.

Let all those who committed no misdemeanor feel free to cast the first stone.

 ?

McQ passes something interesting:

Look like a bit of a breakthrough at Purdue:

Researchers at Purdue University have further developed a technology that could represent a pollution-free energy source for a range of potential applications, from golf carts to submarines and cars to emergency portable generators.

The technology produces hydrogen by adding water to an alloy of aluminum and gallium. When water is added to the alloy, the aluminum splits water by attracting oxygen, liberating hydrogen in the process. The Purdue researchers are developing a method to create particles of the alloy that could be placed in a tank to react with water and produce hydrogen on demand.

The gallium is a critical component because it hinders the formation of an aluminum oxide skin normally created on aluminum’s surface after bonding with oxygen, a process called oxidation. This skin usually acts as a barrier and prevents oxygen from reacting with aluminum. Reducing the skin’s protective properties allows the reaction to continue until all of the aluminum is used to generate hydrogen, said Jerry Woodall, a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue who invented the process.

The alloy is 80% aluminum and 20% gallium. The importance of this is it can produce hydrogen on demand thus eliminating the necessity to store and transport it.

The gallium component is inert, which means it can be recovered and reused.

“This is especially important because of the currently much higher cost of gallium compared with aluminum,” Woodall said. “Because gallium can be recovered, this makes the process economically viable and more attractive for large-scale use. Also, since the gallium can be of low purity, the cost of impure gallium is ultimately expected to be many times lower than the high-purity gallium used in the electronics industry.”

As the alloy reacts with water, the aluminum turns into aluminum oxide, also called alumina, which can be recycled back into aluminum. The recycled aluminum would be less expensive than mining the metal, making the technology more competitive with other forms of energy production, Woodall said.

Applications?”

In the meantime, there are other promising potential markets, including lawn mowers and personal motor vehicles such as golf carts and wheelchairs,” Woodall said. “The golf cart of the future, three or four years from now, will have an aluminum-gallium alloy. You will add water to generate hydrogen either for an internal combustion engine or to operate a fuel cell that recharges a battery. The battery will then power an electric motor to drive the golf cart.”

Another application that is rapidly being developed is for emergency portable generators that will use hydrogen to run a small internal combustion engine. The generators are likely to be on the market within a year, Woodall said

In essence, he’s talking about hydrogen on demand.

It strikes me as interesting technology, albeit a problematic one.  The gallium, for example; what happens to that? Gallium if I recall correctly is a carcinogen and a heavy metal.  Does anyone think that’s not going to be labeled a major environmental issue in ten years?

Also, aluminum and its manufacturing process is rather power intensive.  The subject of the net savings of energy thereby would seem problematic.

Even absent those issues, and as pure as the exhaust from burning hydrogen is, it still gives off heat.  Which still leaves us with the global warming fanatics.  There going to tell us we’re still killing the planet because we’re giving off heat.  No matter how clean it is, we should not anticipate that the Enviro-nazis are going to sign on to this, because for them to do so, mandates their stranglehold on what other people do.  That, and not “saving the planet” is all the “environmental movement” was ever about.

Still, all this, if viable, would seem to remove the need for a hydrogen station on every corner, and that’s always been a major stumbler for hydrogen cars.

Ragnar Danneskjold, from The Jawa Report gets today’s “Snark of the Day” award…

He quotes Ace’s comments on Larry Craig, and tops it with the headline:

Ace on Larry Craig (not literally)

Ummm… Yeah.

Billy;

I’ve debated for a good 10 minutes if I should say this to you or not. Took another 15 minutes to get the words close enough to send:

I envy you on the new guitar. Not because someone gave it to you, not because of it’s relative worth, not because you have such friends…(which, of course, are all enviable) … but because you are among the few in my experience who actually has the ability to appreciate in a musical sense, such a gift.

All my life, I’ve wanted the ability to play as you and others I know are able to do. I can play the notes, occasionally without screwing it up too badly, on my little keyboard. But I lack the ability to play the MUSIC, even though it’s in there, straining to get out. The times I’ve gotten serious about it, I have found it to be a supremely frustrating experience.

One of these days I’ll hook up the MIDI and start a project that way… at least then the mechanics of the thing won’t be as brick-wallish a limitation, or so I assume. I suppose at least then what’s in my head will have an outlet.

What I’m saying to you is, I envy you, that you HAVE that outlet without the benefit of such crutches.

I’ve decided to start cleaning up my Blogroll a bit. without bothering to name names or toss links, some of the people that I have been linking for a long time now have lost the qualities for which I linked them in the first place.  Smarts, for one.  If it starts looking a little shorter over there, you’ll understand why.

For those of you who don’t understand why, let me explain it to you this way; I told you a long time ago and repeatedly since, that when I like something from here, it’s because I think it’s something you want to see… something I think is important for you to see.  The stuff I’m removing from the blog roll doesn’t meet the qualification, any longer.

Sister Toldjah digs up great a column reflecting on the liberal thought process, or lack thereof same.   Frank Miele asks ‘Whatever happened to liberals?”

One thing I have learned by writing columns on global warming the past two weeks is that liberals are less interested in free expression of ideas than in total compliance with their ideas, less interested in critical thinking than in being critical, and less interested in the truth than in their truth.

It wasn’t always so.

The Sister notes the seeming inability of the modern liberal, from Al Gore, John Kerry or Mrs. Clinton to explain anything without the need to invoke some grand conspiracy.

When doctors told Francisco Santos he had tuberculosis Friday, health officials said the Gwinnett County 17-year-old refused to believe it.

Then the wiry, dark-haired youth refused to submit to any treatment. Worse, he said he was walking out of the Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville and heading back to his home country of Mexico, officials said.

So says the Atlanta Journal Constitution.   

So let me get this straight; we have an illegal alien, with TB, who probably had it when he came here… illegally.  Lord knows how many people he’s infected since he got here.  Let’s face it; the government is not exactly top notch in detecting such problems.  They usually have to be hit over the head with a sledgehammer several times to attract their attention.

Do we need any more evidence as to why the border should be closed?

In all the hysteria over the Bush Vietnam evocation, people are losing their sanity. Now those in Vietnam are being dragged out and quoted by the mainstream media to prove Bush’s lunacy. But what are subjects of a police state supposed to say — “I wish our present Communist dictatorship had lost”? Do we think Cubans routinely give widely publicized interviews criticizing their Castroites — and live?

That’s Victor Davis Hanson at The Corner, who is today’s Snark of the Day.

This point that Hanson makes is perhaps deeper than he is aware, in that the vast majority of those making this argument, are working to advance not-so-watered down socialism worldwide, and specifically here in the US… including the MSM.

Says Hewitt:

Today.

I realize that I did not say this about Senator Vitter, but Craig’s behavior is so reckless and repulsive that an immediate exit is required.

Guess I can’t argue that.

Not that it’s going to bother things much. The seat he holds has about as much chance of going to a Democrat as I have of being a concert pianist. Rumble was that former Lt Gov Jim Risch was going to run for the seat anyway.

Afterthoughts: (Bit)

• There is something to be said for the idea that were Craig a Democrat, he would likely have a committee assignment as a result of this arrest, amidst cries of “equality” and “understanding”.
• Is there something about this particular Airport that they had a stakeout going on?  Is it possible that Craig was a target of such a stakeout? I think if that was the case, it doesn’t change much, except for the timing involved… Craig it isn’t a less valid target, but  it raises the possibility of a politically timed arrest.
• It’s interesting that the mainstream media doesn’t seem to have a problem remembering what party Larry Craig is attached to , as opposed to when Democrats get arrested.

Ouch….

BAGHDAD (AP) – Iraq’s embattled prime minister lashed out at American critics Sunday, saying Sen. Hillary Clinton and other Democrats who have called for his ouster should “come to their senses” and stop treating Iraq like “one of their villages.”

Gee… Ya think?

What on earth possesses anyone  to think that the Democrats are going to do a better job of foreign policy, I have no idea…. But Maliki’s words should put an end to the illusion.

• First off, I’m starting a new job tomorrow, so my blogging may be spotty for a bit, at least during the day…. though I figure DavidL’s output shouldn’t diminish. Wish this situation had popped up early in the summer… it would have made my vacation time a little more enjoyable.(/grouse)
• I got a second place in this half-week’s OTB Caption Contest. (Yes, they run two a week, there)



• I note that Massachusetts senator John Kerry has permitted the last ten to two limitation for defamation to lapse as regards the swift boat authors Corsi and O’Neal. Now I see Beldar is making an offer that John Kerry wouldn’t be able to refuse if he was actually telling the truth.  Or, if anything in the swift boat response to Kerry’s candidacy was inaccurate, for that matter.  But since everybody knows he hasn’t able to tell the truth in the matter, and, in fact, is desperate to avoid a serious examination of the matters brought up by the swift boat vets, he’s never going to take Beldar up on this one.  John Kerry is a prime example of why nobody but the most ardent leftist trusts the democrats, anymore.
• The Gateway Pundit and notes that France is apparently waking up even more than we were aware; they are now fixed to apologize to Iraq for interfering in their domestic affairs. Oil for food, for example (?) I note also that sarkozy is now taking seriously the Iranian nuclear threat saying that the only alternative to the current diplomatic push is the bombing of Iran.  I feel a change in the wind, says I.
• In a not so bizarre world, people eventually would figure out that the Bill Moyers has no credibility whatsoever.  Hot Air has the viddie at the link. The problem is, when they finally come to that conclusion, they’re going to have to start reconsidering some of what it is they’ve been telling people about Karl Rove, all these years.  And, as an extension of that, what they’ve been telling folks about the Bush administration… and yes, that is applicable, since the liberal press, and more years in particular, has been spending all that time and telling us how the two were inseparable.  By the way, it should be noted, that exposure to the facts has finally turned Chris Wallace.  His old man has to be P!$$#& O<<...
• The examples of desperation on the left keep popping up.  Here’s another this morning.