James Taranto recognizes the unbearable lightness of Fred-6

Although I hate explaining my self more than once, the reference to the current POTUS as Fred-6 is a shorthand reference to Frederick VI, who the fable “The Emperor’s New Clothes” is based on. Glad I could be of service, even though I doubt Taranto got it from me:

Part of that cult of personality is the myth that he is the World’s Greatest Orator, a myth the Times evokes with its hazy recollections of times when he was “highly persuasive.” When was he highly persuasive? When he sold the public on the so-called stimulus and ObamaCare? When he campaigned for Democrats in 2010? When he rallied public support for his last change in Afghan policy, an increase in the U.S. troop presence?

The truth is, there’s an Emperor’s New Clothes aspect to Obama’s supposed status as the World’s Greatest Orator. We’ve heard the myth of his eloquence over and over, yet he keeps “unexpectedly” making gaffes or tin-eared statements. Here’s the big one from his speech last night: “America, it is time to focus on nation building here at home.”

via Support the Tropes – WSJ.com.

Inforama: Fred-6’s Birth Certificate

As the issue is no longer useful and was starting to do some damage, Fred-6 finally released his birth certificate. Now, how ’bout dem grades?

Just a reminder: Democrat pols are awful human beings

I don’t really care about the Madison thing – I know the details, I know I should care, I’m glad our guy won, I’m glad it got the ‘Cuda back out in the spotlight, but the details of the race itself are so boring. A goddamn Donkey won’t concede an election she lost by 7,000 votes, after being willing to declare victory with a 204 vote lead? Color me not-shocked.

It didn’t used to be this way, or at least this bad, but Bush v. Gore changed that, because Algore would not concede the election even though he lost. He set down the template for Donkeys the world over, and they’re often rewarded for recount after recount – see Sen. Franken.

The GOP is no picnic, but they’re saints compared to the Donkeys. These people would be ashamed if they were capable of having shame – they don’t.

Madison — Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg requested Wednesday a statewide recount – the first in 22 years – to check the results in the April 5 election for state Supreme Court race she lost to Justice David Prosser, the Government Accountability Board said.

The official tally shows Kloppenburg lost to Prosser by 7,316 votes – less than 0.5% of the 1.5 million votes cast.

Kloppenburg also called on the board to appoint a special investigator to probe the “actions and words” of Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus.

The election initially appeared much closer, with Kloppenburg winning by 204 votes.

via Kloppenburg requests recount in Supreme Court race – JSOnline.

Sarah Palin in Israel

Great roundup from C4P, including pics.

Union Myths – Thomas Sowell – National Review Online

Read the whole piece – as always, great stuff from Thomas Sowell.

Why do we have secret ballots in the first place, whether in elections for unions or elections for government officials? To prevent intimidation and allow people to vote the way they want to — without fear of retaliation.

This is a crucial right that unions want to take away from workers. The actions of union mobs in Wisconsin, Ohio, and elsewhere give us a free home demonstration of how little they respect the rights of those who disagree with them and how much they rely on harassment and threats to get what they want.

It takes world-class chutzpah to call circumventing secret ballots the “Employee Free Choice Act.” To unions, workers are just the raw material used to create union power, just as iron ore is the raw material used by U.S. Steel and bauxite is the raw material used by the Aluminum Company of America.

The most fundamental fact about labor unions is that they do not create any wealth. They are one of a growing number of institutions which specialize in siphoning off wealth created by others, whether they are businesses or the taxpayers.

There are limits to how long unions can siphon off money from businesses without facing serious economic repercussions.

via Union Myths – Thomas Sowell – National Review Online.

Arid Uka’s Gratitude – Mark Steyn – National Review Online

Remember Kosovo? Me neither. But it was big at the time, launched by Bill Clinton in the wake of his Monica difficulties: Make war, not love, as the boomers advise. So Clinton did — and without any pesky U.N. resolutions, or even the pretense of seeking them. Instead, he and Tony Blair and even Jacques Chirac just cried “Bombs away!” and got on with it. And the Left didn’t mind at all —  because, for a modern Western nation, war is only legitimate if you have no conceivable national interest in whatever war you’re waging. Unlike Iraq and all its supposed “blood for oil,” in Kosovo no one remembers why we went in, what the hell the point of it was, or which side were the good guys. Answer: Neither. The principal rationale advanced by Clinton and Blair was that there was no rationale. This was what they called “liberal interventionism,” which boils down to: The fact that we have no reason to get into it justifies our getting into it.

via Arid Uka’s Gratitude – Mark Steyn – National Review Online.

Good times here – “Not One of Us” by Thomas Sowell on Creators.com – A Syndicate Of Talent

Pragmatism tells you nothing about extremism. But the conservative intellectuals who seize upon President Obamas pragmatism to give him the benefit of the doubt are obviously bending over backward for some reason.With Governor Palin, it is just the opposite. The conservative intelligentsia who react against her have remarkably little to say that will stand up to scrutiny. People who actually dealt with her, before she became a national figure, have expressed how much they were impressed by her intelligence.Governor Palins “inexperience” is a talking point that might have some plausibility if it were not for the fact that Barack Obama has far less experience in actually making policies than Sarah Palin has. Joe Biden has had decades of experience in being both consistently wrong and consistently a source of asinine statements.Governor Palins candidacy for the vice presidency was what galvanized grass roots Republicans in a way that John McCain never did. But there was something about her that turned even some conservative intellectuals against her and provoked visceral anger and hatred from liberal intellectuals.

via “Not One of Us” by Thomas Sowell on Creators.com – A Syndicate Of Talent.

MIke Tobin Scott Walker | Wisconsin protests | Fox News | The Daily Caller – Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment

“One thing I think should make clear – the people coming after us from every live shot here, these people hate,” Tobin said. “These are people who don’t respect diverse viewpoints. In fact, they’re so afraid I’ll present a diverse viewpoint, that’s why they try to heckle me and shut down every live shot. They’ve made it clear, that what they want to make it harder for me to do my job. They are proud of that when they disrupt a live shot, when they really trample over the First Amendment rights or the First Amendment’s obligations of a reporter. Now, I am not saying that’s all of the people. Those are the people that come here and heckle and try to disrupt things. I look in their eyes – there is hate in their eyes. They don’t want to hear any kind of viewpoint that is different from their own. That’s why they do what they do.”

via MIke Tobin Scott Walker | Wisconsin protests | Fox News | The Daily Caller – Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment.

Herman Cain wins Tea Party straw poll « Cubachi

In my epic piece I hinted at a few days ago (The Piece That Is Quickly Getting Away From Me), I discuss Herman Cain, who is my go-to candidate if Sarah Palin ever announces she’s not running – otherwise, still a full-blooded Palinista. I’m not the only Conservative out there smitten with Cain – he won the APS straw poll at the Tea Party Patriots conference. Hopefully, I’ll have z’piece done before 2013 so we can see if I was wrong about anything (I rarely am, fwiw). –z’King

According to CNN, Herman Cain, the dynamic and possible 2012 candidate, won the the American Policy Summit’s presidential live straw poll on Sunday held by the Tea Party Patriots conference.

Capturing 22% of the 1600 votes cast, Cain, the conservative talk show host and former Godfather’s Pizza chief executive, won handily. Second was Gov. Tim Pawlenty with 16% who was also there.

via Herman Cain wins Tea Party straw poll « Cubachi.

Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion: Tim Pawlentys Rising Star Is Born – Thanks to … Think Progress

KEYES: Governor, you said one of your biggest regrets as governor was not allowing the shutdown in Minnesota to last longer. Would you have that same advice for Republicans in Congress as they face a potential shutdown?

PAWLENTY: I know these shutdowns always seem like they loom large, but in Minnesota, six months after, a year after, people looked back on it and could say, “it really didn’t have that big of a traumatic or dramatic negative impact on the state.”

KEYES: And that’s how you think it would be at a federal level?

PAWLENTY: These are hard to predict so we don’t know for sure, but a week-long or month-long or whatever it would turn out to be disruption isn’t the main point. The main point is we have a country that’s in deep trouble. We’ve got to get back to certain principles and responsibilities and starting with getting the budget balanced and if it takes a dramatic moment or a dramatic week or a dramatic month, those kinds of line-in-the-sand moments are what we need to get politicians back up against the wall and have them make the tough decisions. They all talk about making the tough decisions and never do.

via Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion: Tim Pawlentys Rising Star Is Born – Thanks to … Think Progress.