No Runny Eggs

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.

Archive for June, 2010

June 11, 2010

The Morning Scramble – Rocking GOP Women edition (guest-host Jo Egelhoff)

by @ 10:46. Filed under The Morning Scramble.

If you are not reading Jo Egelhoff’s FoxPolitics, you really should. As part of the site, she puts together a rather lenghty (week)daily e-mail summary of links that rivals the larger Scrambles.

In any case, she put together a GOP Women Rock Scramble for both me and you, the loyal reader (as with Dean’s Guest-Scramble earlier in the week, comments from me will be in italics)…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQHZ7nvBSLY[/youtube]

  • The week started with Sarah Palin’s ‘mama grizzlies’ moniker. Great piece from The Daily Caller. One thing you never do is get between a mother grizzly and her cubs.
  • Regardless the party, should women court women? (Yes, sure, says Suzi Parker at the Christian Science Monitor. But you won’t get them just because you’re the same gender they are.) It’s all about the issues, and the middle of the road is a great place to get run over by both sides.
  • Post-Tuesday from Politico: Palin backing pays off for her pals. Love it. Interesting to see that Palin often uses the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List as a barometer…. I believe the gender-neutral term is roalty-maker.
  • Pre-Tuesday, the Christian Science Monitor asked – Is the Year of the Republican woman dawning? (Nod with me – YES.) I believe it was Jay Weber that said yesterday that they’re simply coming out from behind the scenes, mainly because of the Palin Factor.
  • No, according to Kudlow, this isn’t the Year of the Woman – but rather the year of the women from the past vs. the women for the future. Mostly he’s talking about Carly Fiorina, but lots of these new feminine faces qualify. Those who remember history….
  • Mama grizzlies or not, it’s cool that at least somebody noticed (WaPo) that these women for the future didn’t make their gender an issue. Rock on. I’m lovin’ it. Again, it’s all about the issues.
  • Ohmigosh – Fiorina’s the first one to screw up – into an open mike – messing with Barbara Boxer’s hair of all things.

    “…it is not a good way to start a woman-on-woman race by playing into negative stereotypes about female culture.”

    …. “If a man had made the comment, it would have been viewed as sexist. When a woman says it, it would be viewed as catty.”

    Senator Boxer saw an opening, and took it. “Let her talk about hair; we’re talking about jobs,” said Rose Kapolczynski, her campaign manager..

    When will politicians learn to not speak into a microphone that might be open? As someone who makes hay out of that situation, I hope never.

  • Will media call this the year of the woman? Ed Morrissey says well, probably not.

    Assuming these Republican women triumph in November, don’t expect the media to fawn over them the way they did in 1992 with the Democrats. Besides overcoming the natural liberal bias we see throughout much of the national press, it would also require the media to give Palin and Bachmann some credit, which will happen when global cooling hits Hell.

    Yeah, well… Because they don’t have the “correct” views, Ed is, as usual, right. I do, however, have a frozen sign of Hell, Michigan in the archives on the off-chance they do so.

Now go and thank Jo for putting together this morning’s Scramble.

June 8, 2010

Should the Wisconsin Tea Parties endorse candidates?

by @ 18:08. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin, Tea Party Movement.

The opening item in the Guest-Host with Dean Edition of The Scramble noted the various Wisconsin Tea Party Movement groups are getting together this weekend, and the subject of endorsements is on the agenda. Because there’s so many groups, this really needs to be split into two questions – whether they should endorse if they agree on a single candidate and whether they should endorse if different groups want to endorse different candidates.

As Jay Weber said on this morning’s show, it simply isn’t effective to just carp from the sidelines. While endorsements are not the end-all/be-all, the cold, hard fact is that politicians quickly discount those who are merely gripers who do nothing more substantial in the political process than vent and vote.

An active and united, or even a nearly-united, Tea Party Movements (yes, I am intentionally butchering the grammar and using the plural) front is a rather powerful thing. Just ask Scott Brown, Doug Hoffman, or Rand Paul how much a united front helped them. Of course, the Hoffman experience shows the limits of that.

A badly-fractured set of Tea Party Movements, on the other hand, especially when there is a candidate quite unacceptable to any of the Movements, is extremely counterproductive. I’ll let Warner Todd Huston explain the lessons of Illinois (unlike my contemporaneous excerpt, I’ll take the Illinois governor primary):

There was the same problem with the six candidates that were running for the GOP nomination for Governor. Tea Party groups spilt their votes between Dan Proft and Adam Andrzejewski. Andrzejewski got a last minute surge from Tea Partiers, but it was too late to help. But if you combined the polling numbers that Proft and Andrzejewski were seeing into one that number was a winning number. Unfortunately, the vote was spilt between the two candidates, not settled on just one of them.

I am not saying that the worst-case scenario of the Tea Partiers splitting their votes and allowing a full-blooded RINO slip through is going to happen en masse in Wisconsin, but that is something that the various Tea Party groups have to keep in mind.

The good news is that they are taking the other lesson that Huston drew out to heart – they’re going to at least talk to each other about this. That’s something the Illinios Tea Party Movements singularly didn’t do.

Video of the day (part, I lost count)

by @ 11:27. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Uncle Jimbo knows a thing or two (million) about kicking ass, so enjoy him putting Teh Won’s candy-ass threat In the Crosshairs…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK2T4GbsnHY[/youtube]

The Morning Scramble – Guest-host edition (6/8/2010)

by @ 7:00. Filed under The Morning Scramble.

I had not intended to restart The Scramble this early because that poll is open until next Monday, but Dean from Musings of a Thoughtful Conservative decided to try to force my hand. I’m not saying that this will come back even after that, but since he put a heap of effort into what he sent me, I do have to run with it. I don’t believe I’ve played Kansas yet, so let’s roll on the Dean edition of The Morning Scramble (any comments of mine will be in italics):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koBWtYVRf-0[/youtube]

  • From the Wisconsin State Journal, Wisconsin tea parties face a difficult choice as their convention approaches. “About 140 activists will gather this weekend in Marshfield to decide the role of tea parties in Wisconsin’s political future.” Will they endorse any candidate? I definitely have to do some commentary on this; probably later today.
  • Liberty Pundits have The hottest conservative men 2010. Not for me but the ladies might like this list. Hey, I know a few of the judges (one of them even has guest-blogging keys), and a few of the 20. I missed it by “that much” (and by “that much”, I mean the width of the Milky Way).
  • TaxProf Blog quotes from Laffer about the coming expiration of the Bush tax cuts: “The result will be a crash in tax receipts once the surge is past. If you thought deficits and unemployment have been bad lately, you ain’t seen nothing yet.” I hope he’s wrong but I fear he’s right. I had intended to run with that Wall Street Journal piece today, but I haven’t gotten fully back into the swing of things after the fishing trip. I still might when the May Monthly Treasury Report comes out later this week because Tom Blumer has noticed a serious drop in tax revenues over the last 1 1/2 years.
  • If you’re a friend of James T. Harris on Facebook, he has some great pictures of Jerusalem. Hopefully I’ll make it there, and James will make it out of there, before that place blows up.
  • OK, he’s liberal but this Caffeinated Politics has a pretty evenly balanced look at nine “Super Tuesday” races to watch. Mostly because he pretty much cribbed from a Time piece, but hey, it counts under the Hat Tip Rule.
  • James Wigderson is impressed with Homeland Security again…well, for awhile. No comment really necessary, considering Shoebox’s war with the TSA.
  • Meghan McCain’s upset with Obama. Really? “I do believe Obama is working as hard as possible, but his problem is that he is not conveying this to the American public.” Well, I guess Teh Won took MeggieMac’s advice because he’s now looking for ass to kick.

If you want to guest-host a Scramble, go ahead and send me some links. I will, of course, vet the list (as much for blogs to add as anything else), and toss some of my own commentary in. I won’t promise music though (I don’t know if I’ll do music if I bring back my own edition).

Now, go thank Dean for the (temporary for at least now) return of The Scramble.

June 7, 2010

Headline of the day

by @ 19:17. Filed under Presstitute Follies.

Courtesy Jon Ham regarding the suddenly-retired Helen Thomas on the editorial page of The Washington Times…

Hag gagged

I wish I had written that one.

24-hour warning for the June Drinking Right

by @ 18:46. Tags:
Filed under Miscellaneous.

This is the Emergency Blogging System. It has been activated because the second Tuesday of the month is as early as it gets.

Since tomorrow, June 8, is the second Tuesday of June, that means that it is the day of the June 2010 edition of Drinking Right. You are hereby instructed to be at Papa’s Social Club (7718 W. Burleigh in Milwaukee) at 19:00L (that’s 7 pm CDT) and tip a few of your favorite beverage(s) with some of the Milwaukee area’s best bloggers (and Steve).

This concludes this activation of the Emergency Blogging System

New NRE poll – Should I bring back The Morning Scramble?

by @ 11:08. Filed under NRE Polls, The Morning Scramble.

I’m not at all promising to abide by the results of this poll, but it’s been a while since I discontinued the daily linkfest known as The Morning Scramble. With something north of 400 blogs I at least try to read, I just couldn’t keep up with it. Another reason of the dropping was it has become harder to find embeddable songs from YouTube (oh well; the free music party couldn’t last forever).

Oh well, since I’m starting to run out of steam to do my own posts, I might try to bring it back. That’s where this little poll comes in.

Should I bring back The Morning Scramble?

Up to 1 answer(s) was/were allowed

  • Yes - I'm too lazy/time-constrained to do the reading myself. (75%, 6 Vote(s))
  • Yes - and I'll send you links to help out. (13%, 1 Vote(s))
  • No - I never really paid attention. (13%, 1 Vote(s))
  • No - I already read a lot of the blogs you link to. (0%, 0 Vote(s))
  • What's The Morning Scramble? (0%, 0 Vote(s))

Total Voters: 8

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Neumann has REALLY lost the Klausers

by @ 9:08. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

Charlie Sykes posted an open letter from former Department of Administration Secretary (under Tommy Thompson) James Klauser to gubernatorial candidate Mark Neumann, asking him to leave the field and return his and his wife’s contributions. A bit of background – Klauser endorsed Neumann’s bid before it was officially launched, and his wife served as Neumann’s first campaign treasurer. However, by November, the Klausers pulled their support and backed Scott Walker. Since then, Neumann has started taking talking points from the One Wisconsin Now crowd.

The letter:

Dear Mark:

The last time I wrote you I stated it was time to coalesce around the Republican candidate best able to be elected governor in November 2010. While I appreciate you may have a different view, time has validated my judgment.

Earlier in 2009 when I considered your candidacy you told me that you would conduct a positive campaign with ideas that could address Wisconsin’s problems. You assured me that you would run a positive campaign; that you would adhere to Ronald Reagan’s eleventh commandment not to attack a fellow Republican.

Today I write to you as I am aghast at where your campaign has gone. You are violating the Reagan commandment.

The event you “staged” at the Republican convention was phony and hollow. I watched in amazement your shallowness and contrivance. You well know, since you were the Republican candidate in 5 elections (2 you won, 3 you lost), that guests are allowed “inside” if they register and pay the appropriate fee. At this convention I arranged for several people to so observe. Your claim of outsider, not being allowed in, was staged and phony.

Now I see you are holding press conferences to attack your primary opponent. As a math teacher you know that your criticism is contrived. All this for media attention; to mislead the voters.

My dad always told me to sell myself; not to knock down the other fellow. I expect yours did as well. You’re not following that sage guidance

I hope you stop; you are only helping the democrats. It is time for you to leave the field before your integrity is permanently besmirched.

In any event I must ask you to return the contributions which Shirley and I have made to your campaign. You obtained them under the false pretense that you would run a positive campaign focusing on the liberal democrats. You haven’t done that.

Sincerely,

/s/ James R. Klauser

June 7, 2010

One item I may or may not have mentioned – as the Saturday RPW convention morning session was letting out, and before his street theater, Neumann was standing at one of the two exits of the convention floor pressing the flesh.

Also, Charlie mentioned on his show that the Neumann campaign might ratchet up the mud by taking it onto the TV airwaves. Mark, if you have even a shred of integrity left, don’t do that.

Perfect analogy for blogger/reader relationship

by @ 7:16. Filed under The Blog.

R.S. McCain nailed it in a post ranging from him getting a mention from Allahpundit to South Carolina voters (or at least those being polled) rejecting the smears against Nikki Haley. The Drinking-Right-worthy quote:

While I despise the pompous expression “online community,” it nevertheless contains a truth. The relationship between a blogger and his regular readers (many of whom, it should be noted, are also bloggers in their own right) is like the relationship between a bar owner and his clientele. The bar is open to everyone, but if someone starts making a scene that spoils the fun for everyone else, the unruly patron will be shown to the door (and customarily stomped senseless in the parking lot by the bouncers, as was the policy at one nightclub where I worked as a DJ many years ago).

Oh yeah – Drinking Right is tomorrow night at 7 pm over at Papa’s Social Club (7718 W Burleigh in Milwaukee for those either stopping in for the first time or with short memories). That’s right – we’re almost to the second Tuesday of June already.

One more housekeeping note – if you haven’t read The Other McCain, what are you waiting for, Christmas? You’re already too late to be visitor number 4,000,000, but there’s always the off-chance you’ll be number 5,000,000.

June 6, 2010

Back-from-vacation Hot Read – Stacy McCain’s “The Holy Church of St. Pancake”

by @ 11:34. Filed under War on Terror.

R.S. McCain put together a very lengthy piece on Rachel “St. Pancake” Corrie, and compared her life to one who truly was innocent, Shiri Negari. I’ll take up at the point Stacy introduces Negari:

Those who have promoted the death-cult of Rachel Corrie insist that she must be remembered exactly as they wish her to be remembered, as a victim-hero whose name can only be spoken with hushed reverence for her innocent righteousness. To remember Rachel Corrie that way, you see, requires us to forget the victims of her terrorist allies.

In 1998, when Rachel Corrie was a high school senior, a 19-year-old Israeli girl traveled to America, touring the Grand Canyon and other sites. Later, the Israeli girl spent a year in Latin America, where she learned Spanish, hiked mountains and went scuba diving. She was the daughter of a dentist, third of five children, by all accounts beloved by everyone who knew her, and she signed her e-mails “Shiri Negari, World Traveler.”

“Shiri loved to laugh and made others laugh with her. She loved to dance and knew how to enjoy the little things in life. She had the gift of being able to see goodness and beauty in every person she met, and she kept up many close friendships with a wide variety of people. . . . Always full of life, she loved to sing and make music. A born actress, she often delighted family and friends with her spontaneous improvisations and impressions. She wrote poetry. She loved swimming.”

Shiri loved America so much that, shortly after her 21st birthday, she moved to New York City and got a job in a restaurant. After the 9/11 attacks destroyed the World Trade Center, her family became concerned for her safety, and eventually Shiri returned home to live with her parents near Jerusalem. She got a temporary job in a bank, working to save money for college where she planned to enroll in the fall of 2002.

Shiri Negari was on her way to work at the bank one Tuesday morning — June 18, 2002 — when she boarded Bus No. 32A in Gilo. A few minutes later, a little before 8 a.m., another passenger boarded the bus:

19 people were killed and 74 injured . . . in a suicide bombing at the Patt junction in Jerusalem. . . .

Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack and identified the bomber as Muhamed al-Ral, an Islamic law student at An-Najah University. . . .

Al-Ral boarded Egged bus no. 32A from Gilo at 7:50 A.M. at the stop in Beit Safafa, an Arab neighborhood opposite Gilo, and almost immediately detonated the large bomb which he carried in a bag stuffed with ball bearings.

Shiri died that day, just two weeks before her 22nd birthday, in a blast that ended the lives of 18 other people ranging in age from 11 to 72. They were all killed on orders of Hamas — the same terrorist organization that rules Gaza, where 23-year-old Rachel Corrie arrived to join the anti-Israeli ISM contigent in January 2003, barely seven months after the blast that destroyed Bus No. 32A.

June 3, 2010

Open Thread Thursday – The EBS Edition

by @ 18:01. Filed under Open Thread Thursday.

This is the Emergency Blogging System. It has been activated because Steve is fishing, and it’s Thursday.

Have fun…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYa-MOJthWM[/youtube]

June 1, 2010

Another Arizona Boycott

by @ 12:54. Filed under Immigration, Politics - National.

After Arizona passed its “we’re going to enforce the law if the Feds won’t enforce the law” immigration law, numerous members of the politically correct class called for boycotts of doing business with Arizona.  It got so ridiculous that MLB continues to be challenged to pull the All Star game from Phoenix and the Arizona Tea company, whose products have no affiliation with Arizona other than their name, have been suggested as a possible boycott target.

After the initial calls for boycotts, President Obama was queried as to whether he believed boycotts of Arizona were appropriate.  His response was that while he didn’t agree with the law, yet understood the frustration of the Arizona people:

“I’m the President of the United States. I don’t endorse boycotts or not endorse boycotts.”

So, President Obama has a dilemma. He doesn’t support a law that has been enacted by Arizona but obviously wants to do something about the problem because he also understands the frustration of the Arizona people (Oh, by the way, the people of Arizona are frustrated by the lack of effort, focus, urgency by anyone at the Federal level).

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, while approving of the Arizona law, also fees the frustration of the Arizona people.  As an executive leader who takes her position as one of action and not just show, she reached out to the White House in an attempt to meet with President Obama about their law and to discuss a future course of action supported by both Federal and State authorities.  Obama’s response? I’m too busy!

Too busy?  Doing what?  Dealing with that oil spill in the gulf?  Nope, he’s got a host of his lackey’s running interferenceso that Governor Jindal can’t do what he believes is right for his state!

Busy dealing with the events involving Gaza and Israel?  Nope, in fact, now has time on his calendar as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled his visit to return home to deal with the issue himself.

Oh, I almost forgot. I’ll bet President Obama is working on that Korean issue. Opps, nope, he’s farmed that one off to the UN.

Early in his presidency, when one of his community agitator friends got in a tussle with the local police, President Obama, along with Vice President Biden, cleared their schedules to allow for a beer tasting photo op. This, over an issue that should never have elevated itself above the local community police/college relationship. Now, on an issue that clearly has national significance, President Obama is too busy to meet with Governor Brewer.

If I were the synical type, I’d think that President Obama’s shunning of Governor Brewer was in fact, his own, private boycotting of Arizona!

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