The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.
(H/T – Jib)
Today’s lesson of what not to do when drunk and in a crashed car comes to us from Durham, NC’s Josue Herrios-Coronilla and examiner.com: Do not step in a canine land mine as you stumble away from the wrecked car and then keep the uncleaned shoe on after you stagger into the getaway van.
One of the fastest ways to get my attention is to link to me. It’s not a guarantee to getting on the roll and the feed reader, but if the content is good, it’s a sure-fire way to do so. Yorick’s Persiflage qualifies on all counts.
One of my MRQs this week, “You hear me talking, Huckleberry boy?”, is up for MRQ of the week over at Real Debate Wisconsin. This is the only time I encourage you to vote early and vote often.
Sorry, competition, the Egg Slime Machine™ is not for hire this week; rather, you’re the targets. First, it wasn’t the hair that killed Romney in Iowa. Second, here comes the sqeeze. Finally, just grab some collagen.
Remember, vote for Marcellus Wallac…er, steveegg this week. Otherwise, he will get medevial on your asses.
Well, the Fox crew did what they should have; keep just enough of a rein on things to let the candidates either shine or step in it. So, who shone and who stepped in it?
Fred Thompson – Get me my shades. He had Huckabee’s breakfast, lunch and dinner, and dined on McCain’s snack while tossing back New York Times’ martinis.
Mitt Romney – Mostly-solid, but he was reduced to playing Roast-A-Paul-Nut.
John McCain – See Romney.
Rudy Giuliani – He’s a real vanishing man. Going to be invisible soon.
Mike Huckabee – The Republican Party didn’t leave him, he left the Republican Party.
Ron Paul – When even Mike Huckabee roasts you, you’re a bad candidate.
I hope the blogosphere’s personal DVR, Allahpundit, is rolling hard drive on Mike Huckabee’s meltdown in the spin room. If his defense of his outright liberalism by saying that Reagan was also a tax-raising liberal doesn’t sink his fat ass, I don’t know what will.
Yes, we had tornadoes in January for the first time since 1967. However, we’ve got quarter-sized snowflakes falling in the south suburbs of Milwaukee right now, so be careful out there.
I believe I mentioned this before, but since it dropped off the front page, I’ll mention it again.
Americans for Prosperity is holding the Defending the American Dream Summit – Wisconsin at the Country Springs Hotel in Pewaukee, WI on Saturday, February 9, 2008. Full details and registration ($29 for general/$15 for students) are available at the link. Trust me, you will want to sign up. I was at the national DAD summit, and that was a crowded (1,600 strong while AFP had originally anticipated about 600), fun couple of days. Even if we don’t get any of the invited Presidential candidates, they have a rather strong lineup.
So, if you haven’t already signed up, I have but one question, why are you still here and not there signing up?
(H/T – Mike/The Jawa Report)
A couple of tenents of the Ace of Spades lifestyle will soon be banned in St. Charles, Missouri bars, at least if the politicos have their way. The city fathers want to ban table-dancing, drinking games, and vulgar language. Those that have sensitive eyes, don’t click the “more” to hear my response; the rest of you, click away…
(H/T – Dave in Texas/AoSHQ)
That’s right, kids, those crazy German zoos are at again. It seems the Nuremburg Zoo found the perfect mate for Knut, a 4-week-old female polar bear taken from her mother after the mother exhibited some of the same behaviors as another polar bear mother who practiced some post-partum abortion on her cubs.
No word yet on whether Allahpundit will bless the eventual union.
We have Ron Paul in the debate this time, so I will be drunkblogging this thing. Between roasting PaulNuts and the alcohol, I expect to be am swearing like a longshoreman and not sugarcoating the expletives behind either the phonetic alphabet or a <expletive deleted> tag, so this will not be simulcast over at my little corner of TownHall’s wall. I’ll be back here somewhere around 7:45 to run this bout of insanity straight into the ground (quick, somebody call the NTSB).
With that warning out of the way, I’ll once again remind you how I do this. I’m not the fastest typist on the planet, and my wireless keyboard is starting to crap out on me, so I paraphrase a lot. The questions from the mods will be in italics, the answers from the candidates will be in normal text, if you see “DING! DING!” in-line with an answer, that’s the bell going off, not me agreeing, and anything in parentheses in-line with a question or an answer is my commentary.
Joining in the liveblogging (yes, it’s early, but some people have actually started or already announced)
– Ken Taylor, guest-blogging live at Mike’s America
– John Hawkins at Right Wing News
– Matt Lewis at TownHall, who is giving up a party to do this.
– The gang at Heading Right, including Fausta of Fausta’s Blog.
– Justin Higgins at Right on the Right
– The gang at Free Republic
– Sean Hackbarth at Fred File (I’ll have the actual link when it’s up, I hope; also, that is an official campaign site)
– Allahpundit and friends at Hot Air
– The Lizards at Little Green Footballs (they go through an average of 3 threads per debate, so I won’t link to a specific one)
– Ace at AoSHQ
– Michelle Malkin
– The gang at RedState
(H/T – Jon Ham)
I’m trying so hard not to make the inevitable A-cup jokes about the launch of the 10-foot, 1/2-ton, 4-passenger (yeah, right), $2,500 (or $3,000 after tax and title) Tata Nano in India. So, what else do you get with your 120,000 rupees (after tax and title)? Let’s take a look (pic courtesy The Times (London):
– 4 doors that lock
– 4 on the floor (those of you who said that you can’t drive a stick, you’re SOL)
– seat belts
– 2 cylinder, 33 hp gas engine, allegedly good for 50 mpg
– steering wheel
– a trunk big enough for a duffle bag
Air conditioning, power locks, radio and sun visors are available at extra cost.
In comparison, the DeWalt Nano…
…features seating for one in a custom-built racing seat, a 800-hp engine, built-in two-way radio, two ignition boxes, a 5-point racing harness, 4 racing GoodYear Eagles, detachable steering wheel, and at least in the pictured model, a lot of confetti for about $180,000.
Back to seriousness (or what passes for it here), while the manufacturer says that the Tata Nano has passed a full-frontal crash test, I’m reminded of another full-frontal crash test our British friends at “Top Gear” did:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_t1l9pNHSI[/youtube]
Remember, the Smart is bigger and has airbags galore.
Revisions/extensions (10:11 pm 1/10/2008) – The red pickup is reloaded. As of 10:10, we had $548,922 in it.
We got a new paint scheme for the truck, a new lease on life after making it through Iowa, and a new goal – $540,000 by the end of tomorrow, January 11. As I type this (just before noon Central), we’re $105,004 short of that goal. Why is it important to get those ads on in South Carolina? I’ll let Rick Moran explain:
But Thompson desperately needs to win in South Carolina in order to continue to be a viable candidate. And there are several factors at play in the Palmetto State that makes a Thompson win a realistic goal:
1. Romney has dropped out of the running in SC, having pulled his ads and is transferring staff in order to ambush John McCain in Michigan.
2. That leaves only three candidates with a realistic shot at winning in SC; Huckabee, McCain, and Thompson. Amazingly, none of the three candidates will have an overwhelming advantage when it comes to financing. This levels the playing field considerably.
3. SC voters have made it clear that opposition to illegal immigration is one of the top issues in the state. Looking at the three candidates above, who do you think has the most consistent, conservative record on immigration?
4. Outside factors may play a role in the dynamics of the race. McCain may very well be grievously wounded by a Romney win in Michigan – a state he won in 2000. There would be little time for McCain to right himself following a loss there what with the SC primary 4 days later.
In short, a Thompson win in SC is not only possible but within reach – if Fred has the money for media buys to get his message to the people.
To that, I add Thompson’s comprehensive plan to reduce federal spending. This one’s a special for my “friend” George, who has signed up, mistakenly in my humble opinion, with John McCain:
- Balance the budget and eliminate underperforming programs
- Enact meaningful earmark reform
- Eliminate improper government payments and prosecute fraud
- Reform entitlement programs
Folks, I can’t force you to go through that door, donate to the Thompson campaign, and ultimately vote for him. I can only show you the door and why it would be wise to go through. So, please, go through that door, donate, and vote. For your convenience, you can either click on that button at the top-left of the blog or click on it below:
Revisions/extensions (6:45 pm 1/10/2008) – Actually, I have a pair of updates. The first is that the red pickup has $516,215 in it, which means we need another $23,785. The second is Fred talking about the experts (H/T – Austin over at The Fred File):
Let this be an object lesson to moonbats everywhere – do not send an email wishing death by anorexia to somebody who can easily find out that days earlier, you had a letter decrying “cyberbullying” published in the local paint-catcher like one Joe Roppe of Stevens Point, WI.
Those of you with sensitive sensibilities, don’t click as there are 4 f-bombs and 2 s-bombs just in the post (I lost count how many undeleted expletives are in the comments). The rest of you, enjoy Ace’s extra-crispy roasting of the head Paul-Nut.
Patrick has some exclusive video from a Citizens for Responsible Government press conference announcing support for the 27th Street businesses opposed to the closing of a portion of the I-43/894 ramp movements at 27th Street. Specifically, the DOT wants to shut off access to 27th Street from northbound I-94 (coming from the south) and from 27th Street to southbound I-94, prefering to shove all that traffic onto Layton Avenue. There are two schools on 20th Street (between 27th and I-94) within a half-mile of Layton, as well as a senior citizen complex on Layton between 20th and 27th.
The stated excuse is that traffic would have to cross too many lanes of traffic to get from the north-94-to-894 ramp to the 27th Street exit. While that is true right now (there is roughly 0.36 miles between the merge point of traffic coming from the north and south and the 27th Street exit, and essentially the same distance between the merge point of traffic coming from 27th and the split between northbound and southbound traffic)…
Click for a full-sized pic (1048×892 pixels, 235KB); from Google Earth
…that is not true under the prefered alternative:
Click for a full-sized pic (1211×768 pixels, 295KB); from WisDOT’s Map Safety and Design with Capacity – North Leg update
Note that the southbound 43/94 traffic that wants to exit onto 27th Street would get off the freeway before 20th Street, while traffic from 27th Street that wants to get onto northbound 43/94 will not merge with the “mainline” traffic at all and not merge with traffic committed to going north until 20th.
“So far, so what?”, you are probably saying. While the WisDOT has attempted to scrub any reference to direct access to 27th Street from the south from its project website, they forgot to “fix” the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, specifically Exhibit 2-7 focused on Layton Avenue (archived here):
Click for a full-sized pic (1004×776 pixels, 175KB); from the Draft Environmental Impact Statement linked above
Do note the small ramps extending from the main north-to-west ramp and the southern-most ramp from eastbound in the first two alternatives. Those were the planned movements between 27th Street and I-94 toward the south, movements that would not have encountered the “mainline” I-43/I-894 at all. While there was a major change between the prefered alternative in the DEIS (which is missing those movements) to the current prefered alternative in that the traffic moving from eastbound 43/894 and 27th Street to northbound 43/94 goes under rather than over the “mainline” I-94, there is no logical impediment other than cost that would cause those movements to be eliminated. Given the movements west of the split from southbound 43/94 to 27th Street and especially the merge between the 27th Street on-ramp and northbound 43/94, there does not even appear to be any less land used by the movements’ elimination.
If the businesses of 27th Street are willing to pay for the additional cost of keeping the movements between 27th and I-94 toward the south, there is absolutely no logical explanation to eliminate said movements.
For those of you who were wondering whether there would be a Center-Right Coalition meeting this month, don’t fret. It is a bit later than usual, and it’s going to be on a different day of the week, but Mark Block and Brian Schimming have made a pretty good score. On Tuesday, January 22, Judge Mike Gableman will be the featured speaker at the Center-Right Coalition. As usual, it will be at The Madison Club (5 E Wilson in Madison) at 9 am (refreshments at 8:30). If you’re interested in going, let Mark know – markb – at – afphq – dot – org (though Mark reads this humble blog, I’m not the contact, so comments are off for this post).
(H/T – Charlie)
I probably should’ve jumped all over this piece from The American Thinker yesterday, but California is proposing taking ultimate control of one’s home temperature away from the homeowner or renter by requiring either a central energy management control system or a programmable communicating thermostat control any new or re-fitted central HVAC system (Section 112(c), p. 63-64). Of particular note is the section regarding what happens during an ’emergency event’ – “Upon receiving an emergency signal, the PCT shall respond to commands contained in the emergency signal, including changing the setpoint by any number of degrees or to a specific temperature setpoint. The PCT shall not allow customer changes to thermostat settings during emergency events.”
Who determines what constitutes an ’emergency event’? Why, the state of California, of course (specifically, the California Independent System Operator).
For those of you who think that 60-degree indoor winters and 85-degree indoor summers will never come to Wisconsin, Peter has a dose of reality for you:
…(L)et me remind you that less than a year ago, California came up with the idiotic idea to ban the incandescent light bulb and force consumers to buy those crappy, expensive bulbs that cost thousands of dollars to dispose of if they break.
Guess what? It’s now the law of the land, as the zealots in Congress passed bipartisan legislation banning the incandescent light bulb and forcing us to buy those crappy, expensive light bulbs. The man Grumps refers to on occasion as "President Rain Man" signed the legislation making it the law of the land.
It’s been a while since I grabbed the chainsaw and pruned a Journtinel idiotorial, but I believe I’m still in practice. Besides, they made it so easy with their rabid, partisan opposition to voter ID, so let the fisking begin:
The U.S. Supreme Court will take up the issue of voter identification today. It should side with the position that enables as many people as possible to vote.
Translation – it should side with the theft of elections. To that, I say, “Foxtrot Tango Sierra.”
It should see the effort to impose voter ID as a transparent attempt by Republicans to dampen voter turnout by a segment of the electorate that tends to vote Democratic. Fraud – what supporters say a requirement to show photo ID when voting is intended to combat – simply isn’t such a problem that it demands this solution. Milwaukee’s election problems in 2004 were principally about resources and record-keeping, not about voter identification.
Translation – it’s more important that DhimmiRATs win by every means necessary than to have honest elections. Once again, I say, “Foxtrot Tango Sierra.”
Regarding Milwaukee’s problems, they’re systematic, and there is no willingness at any level to deal with the big problem. That, however, is no excuse to not deal with the smaller problem.
Today, the justices will consider an Indiana law that requires voters to produce a state ID or a passport before being allowed to cast a ballot. Most states allow some other form of identification – a utility bill or a bank statement, for instance.
A state ID isn’t exactly fool-proof (it does not state whether one is a US citizen, which is a requirement to exercise one’s right to vote), but at least it’s better than a no-picture utility bill/bank statement.
In Wisconsin, which has same-day registration, registered voters need not show any photo ID at the polls. But to register, they need to produce a document that shows they live in the ward or district in which they are voting. If they can’t provide a driver’s license number, they can, for instance, give the last four digits of their Social Security number. Or they can attest that they have none of that and still get to vote.
Which proves that Wisconsin is ripe for fraud. Considering that there is, outside of the soon-to-be-ousted US Attorney for Eastern Wisconsin, nobody willing to prosecute any level of fraud, it’s just going to get worse.
Surprise, Wisconsin traditionally ranks high among the states in voter turnout. That turnout, we suspect, is what proponents of voter ID are really targeting. Sure, that likely means opponents want to get more Democrats to the polls. But one direction could lead to fewer people voting and the other more. It’s that simple.
Oh, really? I can’t speak for anybody else that is part of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy (charter member here), but my goal is to make sure that every legitimately-cast vote is counted once and only once. By the way, thanks for admitting your goal of a permanent-‘Rat majority by every means available, Pimentel.
In Wisconsin, the Republican-controlled state Assembly has voted to put the matter of voter ID on the ballot as a constitutional amendment. The Democrat-controlled state Senate is unlikely to go along.
Gee, I wonder why. Is it that they’re afraid they can’t manufacture votes?
Indiana is among the strictest of the handful of states – Arizona, Georgia, Florida and Missouri – that enacted voter ID, though the state cannot produce much evidence of voter fraud of the kind that this law would erase. Yes, those who challenged the law could not produce anyone harmed by the law, but that was, they say, because they filed the suit before it went into effect. In the interim, they point to 32 legal voters whose votes could not be counted because of the law.
Simple math should convince the justices to overturn the Indiana law. About 10% – or 20 million voting age citizens – don’t have a driver’s license or passport.
Do we really want to go into the math game? I can just as easily point to dozens of people that would probably be alive if Wisconsin had a concealed-carry law.
So go get one is the usual retort. But cost (unless they’re free) and transportation to do that are obstacles for many. In any case, why would we want to provide any disincentive for those eligible to vote in the first place?
Given that they need IDs to get government welfare, cash those government checks, and generally participate in society, that’s a bunch of freshly-dumped Bravo Sierra. To counter the disincentive, why should government do absolutely, positively nothing to ensure the integrity of said vote?
The message, intended or not, is that some eligible people don’t deserve the vote. That’s unacceptable.
What is unacceptable is that those votes can easily be stolen because we refuse to allow any safeguards whatsoever.
Wisconsin may or may not be a permanent-‘Rat majority state. I want to find out honestly, not through stolen elections.
Charlie got an e-mail this morning from somebody who, in Allahpundit’s words, is taking a SECOND LOOK AT MCCAIN! Since my response is going to bust the 500-character limit over there, I’ll let loose here, at least as soon as I get a couple of disclaimers out of the way; I’m a FredHead, and I don’t speak for anybody other than me.
Dear Charlie,
Don’t get me wrong I’m as conservative as they come, and as most conservatives have not been happy with John McCain lately. However, I have taken a second look at him since Iowa, and have realized he’s not as bad as I thought. Here’s my take.
I too have taken a second look at McCain; however, he is as bad as I thought.
1) He’ll be just as good as Guiliani on the war on terror, a lot of conservatives give Rudy a pass on a lot of issues because of his strong war stance. why not McCain?
I will grant that McCain understands the war must be fought, just like Giuliani, Thompson, Hunter and Romney. However, due to understandable personal reasons, he is mistaken on what needs to be done to get information out of jihadis that we capture.
2) At least he’s Pro-Life.
Just like Thompson, Hunter, Huckabee, and at least since 1995, Romney.
3) Cannot be criticized for being a hypocrite on the war, because he did serve honorably in the military.
Just like Hunter.
4) Media does like him a little, I know they will turn on him fast during the general election, but at least I don’t think it will be as venomous as it would be with; Huckabee, Romney and the rest.
Really? I believe they will be even more venomous because they will have to work extra-hard to get people to forget that they did like him.
5) Can claim the high road on the campaign, because of his campaign reform bill (I know I don’t like it, but it will make a good commercial).
You mean like Russ “I’ll take the high road” Feingold? Of course, the letter-writer ignores that the McShame-Slimeroad Lieberal Protection Act is patently unconstitutional.
6) Does have widespread name recognition, except for people who pay attention, no one knows who Romney, or Huckabee are.
There is such a thing as bad publicity, and that is what McCain has.
7) Has hardly any personal baggage to make him a easy target.
Does the Keating Five ring a bell?
8) His voting record in the Senate (which could be better) will look a lot more mainstream than the ultra liberal records of, Hillary, Obama, and Edwards.
Except for his records on judges, campaign “finance”, taxes, illegal immigration (shall I go on?)
9) Will attract a sizeable chunk of the Senior vote, which Republicans have been losing it’s share lately.
Really? That assumes that seniors as a whole are just as easily-led by the nose as Dem women and blacks.
I admit I have some hang ups still, but we need an electable candidate. No, I am not on his campaign, or affiliated with him in any way. Just a person worried what this Country will look like after four years of a liberal President. Thank you.
McCain qualifies as a liberal as well, folks.
Unlike last time, I won’t be creating a mega-link post. My head is still spinning from an ugly head cold (no, Drinking Right didn’t have anything to do with it; in fact, I attribute the fact that I’m still standing to the 3 Heinekens I had last night), so somebody else can do the collation and get the glory. Before I get to my view from the bunker, however, I do want to point you in the direction of a pro, Brian Fraley. He’s been at this for a while, and more importantly from an objectivity standpoint, his company, The Markesian Group, doesn’t yet have a dog in this fight (attention, your attention please; those campaigns that think they’ll survive until February 19th ought to be considering hiring them to do at least the Wisconsin portion of their campaign). His point; politics is not “Survivor”.
Now, on to my view. In what is a bit of a switch, I’ll take the Republicans first, because there are fewer surprises here. First things first; can we please retire the myth that New Hampshire is a small-government state? True, Fred Thompson kissed off NH, but Ron Paul (who, whatever fatal faults he has, is a no-government type) supposedly burned a lot of his gold there. Their combined NH totals – 9% (I don’t have who all was involved in the 2% write-in totals).
Sticking with Paul, I once again overestimated the Paul-Nut factor. Can it be that his mile-deep support is but an inch wide, or is it that a lot of that “support” is actually coming from the other end of the aisle?
Similarily, I underestimated the support for Mike Huckabee. I am sticking with my earlier assertion that NH is not Evangelical-friendly, though I have to admit I underestimated the effect of the Iowa bounce.
Now, onto the Democrats. How did everybody get this one so wrong? I guess everybody, me included, got wrapped up in Obamamania, and New Hampshire women decided to give us a snow job after Hillary Clinton’s play of the crying card. I guess that old saying has truth – Hell hath no fury like wymyn scorned.
Regarding John Edwards, I believe Marcellus Wallace said it best: “You came close, but you never made it. And if you were gonna make it, you would have made it before now.”
This is the Emergency Blogging System. It has been activated to give you your three-hour warning on tonight’s Drinking Right. You are instr…er, invited to make your way to Papa’s Social Club, 7718 W Burleigh in Milwaukee. The drinking starts at 7 and continues until the last person is done.
We now return you to your regular blogging.
If you’re seeing this, we’re back on-line here. Bluehost decided to move me to a new version of Apache, which knocked this place silly the last hour.
I agree 100% with Grumps on this:
It had been present for nearly twenty four hours. The time to begin driving cautiously was long past. Stopped vehicles do not “appear in the fog.” You may feel that way because you are driving too fast to see them in time.
Slow Down. The life you save may be your own.
One more thing; turn on your lights (low-beams, please). Visibility of a self-lighted object in fog is pretty close to twice that of one that is not self-lit. It doesn’t much help with absolute-zero visibility, but that’s where the slow down rule really comes in.
Perhaps barely since I’m in the middle of a nasty chest cold that travelled up to the head and back down again (which means it will in all likelyhood be gone by 5, not-so-coincidentally 2 hours before the January Drinking Right). Yesterday’s weather was just very wicked, though the worst passed to the south into Kenosha and Racine Counties, and the big hail somehow ended up just north of me. Wisconsin, based on preliminary reports, increased its January tornado total by a factor of 5. Kathy Carpenter has some coverage the media is missing so far.
Will they be closer to the Iowa version of this or my Wild-Card Weekend lack-of-performance? Only one way to find out, and the vote-counting begins in about 3 hours.
Democrats
Barack Obama – 43%
Hillary Clinton – 32%
John Edwards – 21%
This race is over, folks.
Republicans
John McCain – 35% – Once again, the New Hampshire crowd will go for the maverick who will die in South Carolina.
Mitt Romney – 28% – Romney’s Last Stand will come up short.
Ron Paul – 10% – They love their Nuts in New Hampshire.
Rudy Giuliani – 9% – There is a serious myth about New Hampshire being conservative.
Mike Huckabee – 7% – The dynamic of the last couple of elections is setting up, and unfortunately for Huck, they hate Evangelicals in New England.
Fred Thompson – 4% – See Giuliani’s wrap, and add in the fact that Fred didn’t kiss any hindquarters there.
Duncan Hunter – 4% – It’s officially a “message” campaign for Hunter now.
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