William Kristol reports the sad news that Dean Barnett passed away today at the too-young age of 41. I can’t give a tribute better than Hugh Hewitt’s, so I’ll point you there.

My desktop went 6 feet under over the weekend. It wasn’t entirely unexpected as I had been encountering freezes over the last couple weeks, but the chipset (nForce 4) finally bit the big one Saturday. It also took out the video card and enough of the hard drive that I could not reinstall Windows on it. I don’t know if that also took out the monitor (ViewSonic VX922) as I’ve seen multiple reports that it wasn’t ViewSonic’s most-reliable, but that also bricked on me.

I’ve spent roughly the last 48 hours rebuilding the desktop (not at all fun with Windows Vista), and though I don’t have all the items I really wanted (partly because it was an emergency rebuild, partly because of budget concerns), the new desktop (Core 2 Duo E8500, Intel P35 Express chipset-my biggest compromise, 2 GB DDR2-800 RAM, 500 GB SATA drive) is just about done and almost to where I had the old desktop software-wise. I still need to get a real monitor (been using the HDTV; 1366×768 on a 26″ is UGLY) and a real video card (I HATE onboard video), but it’s alive. I even managed to rescue my catalog of “Dogfights” episodes (which I had to rescue from the laptop).

The biggest bad thing remaining is I’ve lost 2 years of e-mail. Oh well.

I wish I had one of those flashy light thingys like Drudge has. Steve, can I get one for Christmas?

Revisions/extensions (8:47 pm 10/22/2008; steveegg) – You asked; you get…

Oh cool! Christmas comes early! Thanks Steve!
Tom Cole Representative from Oklahoma and head of the RNCC, has decided to pull all funding from Michele Bachmann, Representative Minnesota, for her comments about Barack Obama.

In the event you don’t know, Bachmann is in a close reelection. She has been a solid conservative and is one of the few that had the spine to vote against the bailout provisions.

I don’t normally steal stuff but there is no reason to improve on a perfect statement.   From Erick Erickson at Redstate.com:

Let’s just call Tom Cole (R-OK), the head of the NRCC, what he is: a douchebag.

Some of you will be upset by the language, but I think it is an accurate description.

We chronicled for you the need to ditch Tom Cole from the NRCC months ago. Sure, we knew it was going to be a bad year, but Cole seemed more interested in the perks of the office than actually trying to mitigate damages.

Cole defended Don Young.

He also defended Rick Renzi despite the criminal investigation that forced Renzi from office.

And while Rome was burning, Cole fiddled away demanding an apology to Indians.

Now, in the height of all douchebaggery, he has pulled all funding from Michelle Bachmann’s very winnable race in Minnesota, in which she is presently leading, though not by a great deal.

Why? Because Bachmann had the nerve to point out Obama pals around with anti-American domestic terrorists and other unsavory characters, i.e. she’s echoed Sarah Palin.

But that’s okay. Apparently we have Republicans to spare.

Help Michelle Bachmann. This race is absolutely winnable. Hell, she’s winning right now. But she needs our help.

And then call Tom Cole and give him a piece of your mind.

UPDATED: For perspective, Tom Cole has been sending money to Don Young in Alaska. So attacking the Democrats is unacceptable to Tom Cole, but taint and corruption is perfectly fine.

You still upset I called him a douchebag?

As Erick says, we need to help Michelle now! It’s clear that the RNCC would rather be politically correct than politically successful. Send Michelle what you can to help her out here! After sending Michele some love, send Tom Cole some of your thoughts here.

Attention, your attention please. The original home of Drinking Right will be having its October edition tonight; usual place (Papa’s Social Club, 7718 W Burleigh in Milwaukee), usual time (7 pm). My liver may be damaged after drinking my way through DC last week, but I only live once.

Be there or be nowhere.

Christian Schneider has consolidated his work at one place. Unlike his previous two private efforts, he showed no real wit with the name of his new place, Christian Schneider Blog.

That means Atomic Trousers is closing down. Get your feeds and rolls fixed ASAP.

As I head for a week of being incommunicado, I’m going to lay my blogging neck on the line with a topic that has a lot of emotion attached to it. I’ll give you 10 days to tee off on this and we’ll see if Steve will have changed the locks while I’m gone;

We had a spirited debate during the debate livedrunkblog about the disclosure in the Congressional hearings that AIG spent approximately $400K for a trip, a week after they received $85 billion in government loans to avoid their failure.

The trip has been described in most media similar to this from the Washington Post:

And just last week, about 70 of the company’s top performers were rewarded with a week-long stay at the luxury St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, Calif., where they ran up a tab of $440,000.

Other reports refer to the trip as “An Executive Retreat.”

That sure sounds bad doesn’t it? Sounds like the company is just carrying on like a college student spending their parent’s money without regard for the effort to earn it.

It’s not.

Here is the description from AIG:

The event, mischaracterized as an “Executive Retreat,” was held by one of AIG’s insurance subsidiaries for independent life insurance agents, not for AIG employees. These agents were top business producers for the company, and of the more than 100 attendees, only 10 were employees of the AIG subsidiary who were there to represent their company. No AIG executives from headquarters attended. The meeting was planned months before the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s loan to AIG.

So what’s the difference?

First, the retreat was not for AIG executives. The retreat was a recognition trip for their top (and this next word is really important) Independent agents. Independent agents are just that…Independent. They get to chose what insurance products they sell. There are many ways to provide incentive for sales people to sell your products, compensation is one, contests are another. However, from my experience, incentive trips are a huge deal for many sales people. The ego boost of the “top achiever” recognition can do as much or more than any other temporary incentive programs to build sales loyalty and spur agents to higher sales achievement.

Second, while there were some AIG executives there, that would be expected. When you have a recognition trip for agents you will typically have the people responsible for managing those people and programs, at the event to emcee, be hosts and build comraderie with the agents.

Third, these were Independent agents. Independent agents generally represent insurance products of multiple companies. If AIG wants to make sure that the agents continue to sell their products (an important thing if we want the company to survive and actually pay back their loans), it’s important to keep the agent’s “head in the game.” Cancelling a recognition trip that they had worked for all year, because of your financial problems (not theirs) does not garner confidence amongst your most valued and highest producing agents.

Fourth, unlike the notion you get from most of the articles that AIG got their money and then booked a spa get away, this program had been in place for some extended time. It’s not unusual for these types of programs  to be  announced a year in advance so that the efforts of that year are what earn you a ticket to the event.

Finally, yes, loaning them $85 billion (and I heard another $35 billion tonight) is a lot of money. However, implicit in the fact that it is a loan and not a complete takeover, is that the intent is for the company to survive…likely smaller, simpler but still survive. At the end of June, AIG had assets of $1.50 trillion dollars.   If that is the intent, AIG will need to continue to execute and grow their non investment business lines.   If you’re concerned about this expenditure, would you like to adjust the commissions they pay?   Would you like to look into   their office supply expense?

My point is this:

Was it the best move?   In hind sight, maybe not.   But please note I said “hind sight.”   However I will maintain that it wasn’t the “let’s spend Dad’s money trip” that it’s been made out to be.   Additionally, like so many other events that have occurred during these difficult times, the press and others have condemned others, without getting facts, while failing to admit their own failures that contributed to the failure of many of these companies.

The problem I see in this environment is that many smart, well intentioned people are getting caught seeing a boogieman behind every action that any of these government assisted companies make.   Are there crooks out there?   Yup, no doubt some of these folks ought to be put in jail.   However, most of the people in companies like AIG, a company that employees 110,00 and has many more independent agents that work for it, are people like the rest of us, trying to make a living and do a good job.   Most of the people at AIG are not making decisions based with the intention of “how do I screw the taxpayers!”

Still not convinced?   Let me try another way.   $400K is .04% of $85 billion.   In perspective, if you made $50K each year, that would be equivalent to you spending $.25.   If you have a $300,000 mortgage, it would be the equivalent of $1.41.   I know $400K and $85 Billion are really large amounts of money but do you really think that something that is less than the equivalent of a cup of Starbucks should be the focus right now?

Yes, I know it “looks bad.”   Yes, there are bad people out there, no doubt.   However, we need to make sure, especially now when it is very easy to be overwhelmed with negative news, that we have complete facts and we hold individuals, not entire companies to account for their actions.   If not, how much better are we than the people who cry “Buuuuuuuuuush” every time something happens that they don’t like?   We’re smarter than that group.  

We need to make sure to step back, get the facts and  take a deep cleansing breath.   After doing all that, we should pursue every last one of the cheating, lying, scumbags that turned their heads while they feathered their own nests and put us all at risk.   Those individuals need to be rooted out and dealt with with extreme prejudice.   The rest of the folks in AIG and companies like them, are just like us and deserve our prayers and support.

In a NewsMax article today this headline:

Billionaire Slim: Buy Stakes in Failing Banks

Carlos Slim is a Mexican Billionaire.   In the article he is reported to say that the approach of buying and reselling assets is wrong.   Rather, he says, the US government should buy the banks themselves.   In essence he calls for the nationalization of much of the US banking system:

But Slim said buying those debts would be complicated, because the government would then have to manage and resell them. He said it would be better for the government to assume majority ownership of the institutions, giving them more capital for restructuring and recovery.

What else would you expect from someone who talks capitalism out of one side of his mouth but has made his fortune in the corrupt, monopoly granting country that is Mexico?   Next to Nancy Pelosi, I can think of no one who’s perspective I would trust less on issues of capitalism than someone who has made their fortune from acquiring and leveraging monopolies!

What’s next?   Should we start taking advice on what our Constitution means from law makers in Europe?

First it was the video of the kids singing adulation and praise to Hope and Change and “The One.”
Now, we’ve got Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders channeling “The One!”

In discussing his firing of a fourth head coach in five years, Davis said:

“He’s not the guy I hired.”

I didn’t know that Jeremiah Wright had ever had a head coaching position!

That’s the banner headline on Drudge.com

CALM RETURNS

Are you kidding me?   -777 one day, + 485 the next!   That’s Drudge’s definition of calm?  

I’d hate to see his version of Panic!

I’m still working up my answer to, “What now?”, but since President Bush will be speaking inside of 15 minutes, I may not have it up before then. Since I’m up, I may as well push out an snap live thread.

The drunkblog below may not be the best record of the debate (I do recommend the gang at The Weekly Standard; they weren’t drinking heavily), but once the debate got onto the stated topic of foreign policy, the schooling of one Barack Obama by John McCain began in earnest. It was so much of a schooling that the refrain of the night from Obama, “I agree with John,” became an instant McCain commercial…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec3aC8ZJZTc[/youtube]

I must note that this was also a common theme in the Republican debates, and we know how the Republican primaries turned out.

The Lie of the Night also belonged to Obama, who mischaracterized former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s words into support for unconditional meetings with Iran’s leaders. That also earned an instant smackdown from Kissinger (via Stephen F. Hayes and TWS).

While the liveblog promo said I would be kicking things off at 6:45 pm, I had assumed that the debate would start at 7 pm CDT. I forgot that Mississippi is in the Central Time Zone, so that will kick off at 7:45 pm, with the thread containing the Cover It Live widget going up at 7:30 pm. Both could be earlier if I decide so, but since I won’t be home before 7 pm, it’s not likely.

There’s plenty of trips the next couple weeks:

– I’ve got some Brewer supporting to do since the Crew is 5-1 in games I’ve been at. I’ll be at tonight’s, Saturday’s and Sunday’s games (I’ve got a debate drunkblog to run tomorrow).

– The September version of Blog ‘n Grog will be at the House of Guiness, 354 W. Main St. in Waukesha, at 8 pm.

– As noted earlier, I’ll help kick off Drinking Right-DC on Tuesday, October 7 over at Mr. Days Sports Rock Cafe, 3100 Clarendon Blvd. in Arlington, VA, at 6 pm (that would be Eastern).

– Finally, Drinking Right-Wisconsin happens at its usual 2nd Tuesday, October 14, at Papa’s Social Club, 7718 W Burleigh in Milwaukee, at 7 pm (back to Central).

First, a video to set the scene:

This article in the Washington Post  outlines McCain’s timeline and discussions that led him to decide to suspend his campaign and head to Washington to aid in the negotiation of the bailout plan.

The money quote of the article:

“We got a good sense last night, even more so this morning,” one top aide said. “Got in a position where Democrats were warily circling McCain — not going to commit to a deal unless McCain does. It was just a time for leadership. So he just stepped up.”

The aides said the concern mounted Wednesday morning, as McCain met with a panel of economic advisers and made phone calls with the Congressional leadership, including Sens. Hillary Clinton and Mitch McConnell, and Reps. Roy Blunt and John Boehner.

Yesterday, Harry Reid was reported as demanding that McCain must support the debated bill or he would not allow it to pass. Today, Harry reversed himself and said:

I understand that the candidates are putting together a joint statement at Senator Obama’s suggestion. But it would not be helpful at this time to have them come back during these negotiations and risk injecting presidential politics into this process or distract important talks about the future of our nation’s economy. If that changes, we will call upon them. We need leadership; not a campaign photo op.

Why is this important?

A few reasons:
First, Harry Reid is about to look like a really big fool. In his wildest imagination he didn’t believe McCain would actually get involved with this process. Reid thought he could use McCain to whip the Republicans into supporting a Democrat designed bill without McCain being anywhere near it. McCain called Reid’s bluff.

Second, McCain talked to Hillary Clinton about the ongoing debate. My bet is that McCain called Clinton. On the other hand, Obama has once again done nothing that was bipartisan except attempt to write a joint statement with McCain. That joint statement, by Obama’s own admission, was requested by Tom Coburn, it wasn’t Barack’s idea!

Finally, it’s apparent that the Republicans were ready to tube this endeavor. I believe McCain has come to the conclusion that something needs to be done. It may not be the plan as written but if “nothing” would have sufficed, he would not have left the campaign. McCain obviously believes something needs to be done and that he can help bring the Dems and the Republicans together to accomplish it.

I stand by my earlier post that calls McCain’s move an “OK Corral” moment. By the end of this weekend I believe one of the two candidates will be firmly etched in the public mind as the person best able to deal with economic issues.

I’m also increasingly optimistic that the person who will come out on top is McCain.

In his press conference explaining why he wouldn’t be suspending his campaign, Barack Obama said:

Given the fierce competition of this election and the enormous stakes involved, that, the fact that both parties agree that we need to focus on this problem on Capital hill and this is an issue that should transcend the typical day to day politics, I think that’s an important statement and one that I’m glad to be a party to.

Fancy word that “transcend.” Interesting that while John McCain takes action to transcend the day to day politics, Obama only talks about it

Later Obama said he told Congressional Democrat leadership:

If you need me, call me.

Who did Harry Reid call for to get bipartisan buy in for the bill? Nope, it wasn’t “The Transcendent One” himself, it was John McCain. Even Harry knows what a real leader looks like!

I just haven’t had the steam to complete anything lately. Sorry about that. I have to thank Shoebox for picking up the slack.

From “The News Agency Who Shall Not be Named,” this headline:

Iranian president blames US for market collapse

Oh yeah!

Foreign governments buying US debt like Chiclets because it was the “safest” bet going were not enablers!

All those countries taking in every dollar they could as oil moved above $140/barrel, no, they had nothing to do with the world economic issues either!

I’m beginning to think that Nancy Pelosi, Chris Dodd and Chuck Schumer are all Iranian. The only thing I hear coming out of any of their mouths has nothing to do with solving a problem or anticipating one. The only thing out of their mouths is a politicization of every issue with a one word explanation: “Buuuuuuuush!”

To all of you in DC, grow up or find another line of work. I don’t tolerate the constant blame game from Thing 1 and Thing 2, why is it acceptable from you?

State rep says son focus of Palin e-mail hacking rumors

News Sentinel staff and wire

NASHVILLE – State Rep. Mike Kernell said today that he was aware of Internet rumors about his son being the subject of speculation that he accessed the personal e-mail of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Asked whether he or his son, a student at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, had been contacted by authorities investigating the break-in of Palin’s account, he responded:

“Me, no.”

As far as his 20-year-old son, David, he said: “I can’t say. That doesn’t mean he has or hasn’t (been contacted by investigators).”

Kernell, D-Memphis, cited the father-son relationship.

…

Yup, it took until the fifth paragraph to denote that the alleged hacker (likely not to be alleged much longer) was connected to the Dems. Do you think it would have made it to the fifth letter if it had been a Republican?

There’s a been a lot of articles published on the difficulty of purging of Islamic Terrorists because groups like Hamas teach hate and a dehumanizing of their enemies to their young.   It looks like there are Dems who are, allegedly, doing the same things.

The 2008 election will not be decided by gender, ethnicity, age or income demographics. The 2008 elections will be determined by how much meat you eat.

Eating veggies shrinks the brain

From the Times of India:

MELBOURNE: Scientists have discovered that going veggie could be bad for your brain-with those on a meat-free diet six times more likely to suffer brain shrinkage.

According to Gov. Palin, a vegetarian in Alaska is an Eskimo who can’t hunt!

I’ve never known a Conservative vegetarian. Have you?

Revisions/extensions (4:45 pm 9/15/2008; steveegg) – Since Weebork brought up omnivores in the comments, I’ll bring back a HamNation classic.

R&E part 2 (9:38 pm 9/15/2008; steveegg) – Or at least I’ll put up a link to said HamNation classic. YouTube is being a bit recalcitrant tonight.

That’s right; the second Tuesday of the month is almost upon us. That means one thing; Drinking Right over at Papa’s Social Club (7718 W Burleigh in Milwaukee) at 7 pm.

Come on in and see what happens when Fred’s fantasy team finally fails him.

“Community Organizer” has become a running joke in this campaign.   Sarah Palin compared her role as Mayor to Barack Obama’s time as a community organizer by saying, “Being a Mayor is a lot like a community organizer, except it has responsibilities.

Today’s Investor Business Daily gives a detailed look at what being a “community organizer” is in Barack Obama’s world.  

YOU NEED TO READ THIS ARTICLE!
A description of what community organizing looks like in Barack Obama’s world

“Our alumni are more than twice as likely as 18-34 year olds to . . . engage in protest activities,” Public Allies boasts in a document found with its tax filings. It has already deployed an army of 2,200 community organizers like Obama to agitate for “justice” and “equality” in his hometown of Chicago and other U.S. cities, including Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York, Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Washington. “I get to practice being an activist,” and get paid for it, gushed Cincinnati recruit Amy Vincent.

and

When they’re not protesting, they’re staffing AIDS clinics, handing out condoms, bailing criminals out of jail and helping illegal aliens and the homeless obtain food stamps and other welfare.

The kicker?

Barack Obama was a founding member of the board of Public Allies in 1992, resigning before his wife became executive director of the Chicago chapter of Public Allies in 1993. Obama plans to use the nonprofit group, which he features on his campaign Web site, as the model for a national service corps. He calls his Orwellian program, “Universal Voluntary Public Service.”

What are the principles of this organization you ask?

Not all the recruits appreciate the PC indoctrination. “It was too touchy-feely,” said Nelly Nieblas, 29, of the 2005 Los Angeles class. “It’s a lot of talk about race, a lot of talk about sexism, a lot of talk about homophobia, talk about -isms and phobias.”

One of those -isms is “heterosexism,” which a Public Allies training seminar in Chicago describes as a negative byproduct of “capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy and male-dominated privilege.”

(emphasis mine)

Does anyone have any remaining doubts whether Michelle’s statement that America is “down right mean country” was a slip of her tongue or a foundational belief?

If you had any doubts about the danger that Barack Obama is to this country, read the article. Your doubts will fade.

Part of this is tentative, but hopefully I’ll get it firmed up in the next day or so:

– Tonight, 7 pm – Sensenbrenner/Burkee debate, Germantown Village Hall, N112W17001 Mequon Rd., Germantown
– Sunday, August 30 – Possible road trip to the Twin Cities for a mini-Drinking Right/Twin Cities edition
– Tuesday, September 9, 7 pm – Drinking Right, Papa’s Social Club, 7718 W. Burleigh St., Milwaukee
– Wednesday, September 10-Saturday, September 13 – Road trip to Phoenix (I really have to thank Fred and Sam Adams Alliance for the opportunity; guess Fred will be drinking for free at DR)

I don’t know how much attention I’ll be paying attention tonight because it’s going to be Bridezill…er, Michelle Obama that’s featured. I’m sure she’ll make a few gaffes (the over/under is 3.5), so consider this your open thread.

Revisions/extensions (4:15 pm 8/25/2008) – I won’t be paying attention at all; I have the annual school board meeting to attend and the local version of the tax-and-spenders to stop. I’m shocked, SHOCKED that they want a 9% increase (actually, I’m pissed off that they do).

R&E part 2 (9:04 pm 8/25/2008) – I’m bogarting the Ace of Spades HQ open thread. Also, Jim Geraghty is reporting that tear gas has been used on the Recreate ’68ers. Beautiful.

Michael King’s employer, 11alive.com, is having a multi-day poll on which fictitional President would be best. The primaries started today, with the A-D group.

I hereby endorse Thomas “Tug” Benson.

The NFL season is just around the bend, and I’ve got a few housekeeping items to take care of:

– First things first, I wil be back to defend my over-.500 regular season record against the spread from last year (123-120-2, with a 20-13-1 on the two-picks-weekly over/unders). As always, they’ll be cross-posted at The Wisconsin Sports Bar.
– Fred will once again be running at least 1 Cheddarsphere fantasy league, and possibly 2. The Spiraling Colby is already in the air.
– Ick has a pair of items lined up for us; a fantasy league and a pick-’em contest.