Happy New Year, everyone!

Huck chucks mud - Have you ever seen anything as monumentally silly as Mike Huckabee's brave stand against negative campaigning, complete with Romney attack ad? Understandably, the reporters couldn't keep from laughing.

Deval Patrick, watch this show - I caught the A&E "Intervention" marathon today and there were a couple episodes showcasing people with gambling addictions. Our beneficent governor should see what he's getting Massachusetts into when he pries his attention away from the all-important revenue windfall. Two not-so-insignificant facts: millions of Americans are problem gamblers and one-fifth of those will attempt suicide.

Crispy crumbs - Hooray! The Toast-O-Meter is back!

What media bias? - Oh, that media bias: notable quotables from 2007. (HT: Blue Crab.)

William Safire, circa 1996: "Americans of all political persuasions are coming to the sad realization that our First Lady -- a woman of undoubted talents who was a role model for many in her generation -- is a congenital liar."

David Geffen, earlier this year: "Everybody in politics lies, but they [the Clintons] do it with such ease, it's troubling."

Hillary Clinton: During my very dangerous mission, Bosnian snipers put me at risk, along with Sinbad and Sheryl Crow.

The death of shame

Geez, I wasn't going to write anything about the story with the Hannah Montana tickets but the follow-up drives me up a wall:

The mother who wrote a fictional essay that won her 6-year-old daughter tickets to a Hannah Montana concert said she never claimed the story she wrote about the child's father dying in Iraq was true.

"We never said anything like this was a true story - never," the mother, Priscilla Ceballos, insisted. "It was just an essay. We do essays all the time. It did not say that it had to be true."

"We did the essay and that's what we did to win," Ceballos said in an interview with Dallas TV station KDFW. "We did whatever we could do to win."

Indeed you did, miss. Wait a second. Didn't I hear a similar sentiment expressed about a week ago?

"I left Flick to certain annihilation. But BB gun mania knows no loyalty."

I'll be the Old Man used the "son in an iron lung" ploy to get his Major Award, too. Bastards.

Amazing Race update - Traffic in Mumbai

Teams started out in Florence, Italy and needed to make their way to Mumbai, India. At the airport, there's a scramble for the earliest flight and TK & Rachel end up with the slowest route to the former Bombay. Remarkably, Kynt & Vyxsin arrive first which is a big break for them since they will be facing the first ever "Speed Bump" somewhere along this leg - an extra task only for them because they came in last on the previous leg. Of course, this all doesn't matter since the newsstand with their next clue doesn't open until 6am the next morning. Everybody's bunched up.

As I predicted before the episode started, somebody (Nathan) made a comment about the smell. Mr. Miyagi slept on the street with a mask over his face.

Once at the newsstand, teams needed to find a small ad in the Times of India instructing teams to a tailor shop and the next clue. Team Generic Couple starts freaking out when all the other teams find the clue ahead of them and head off. Jennifer expends ten-times more energy complaining than focusing on the task at hand.

At the clue, it's a Detour: Paste 'em or Thread 'em. Teams may either put up movie posters on a wall or put together wedding garlands. Meanwhile, Team Sexual Confusion hit their Speed Bump: they must stop racing long enough to do some yoga poses with a yoga instructor. Ronald, as usual, starts yelling at his daughter when their Detour doesn't go according to plan. He's like the typical Dilbert-style manager. Meanwhile, slow and steady wins the Race as Nicolas and Donald finish the movie poster pasting job and lurch into first place. Caution: U-Turn ahead.

TK & Rachel arrive first at the next clue at a traffic circle and they're simply directed somewhere else. So this is just a drive around Mumbai. At the next clue, it's a Roadblock: one team member must deliver six tanks of propane gas to addresses around the city. Ronald, Donald, and TK are hauling tanks up stairs while Team Confusion and Team Generic Couple race to the traffic circle and the U-Turn. Nathan & Jennifer had finished their Detour first but Kynt & Vyxsin arrived at the clue box first and U-Turned…Nicolas & Donald? They're already past the clue, so this U-Turn is meaningless unless Karma is in play.

Back at the Roadblock, TK finishes first and Team Birkenstock heads off to the Pit Stop at Bandra Fort where they arrive in first place. It's a race for last place between Kynt and tiny Jennifer who seems driven by adrenaline and yet constantly on the edge of meltdown. She finishes the Roadblock first while Kynt has to go back because he forgot receipts for the propane tanks. Team Sexual Confusion arrives last to the mat and they are eliminated, although Phil compliments their sartorial choices which ran the gamut from black to pink.

Final standings:

1 - TK & Rachel - Team Birkenstock
2 - Nicolas & Donald - Team Rude Boy and Gramps
3 - Ronald & Christina - Team Miyagi and Grasshopper
4 - Nathan & Jennifer - Team Generic Couple
5 - Kynt & Vyxsin - Team Sexual Confusion - PHILIMINATED

Next week - Looks like China. TK & Rachel either jump ahead or fall behind.

Iowa horserace - David Yepsen handicaps the "electability" factor for the Presidential candidates. (HT: RCP) All the front-runners are crowding around the Sunday morning talkshows this morning. Joe Biden's there, too.

Taxachusetts, again

Jeff Jacoby is hoping against hope that 2008 will be the year that Massachusetts abolishes the state income tax:

"Civilization costs something," the governor says, echoing the 1904 dictum of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.: "Taxes are the price we pay for civilized society."

Maybe so. But in Massachusetts lately, taxes are also the price we pay for Big Dig corruption, for larcenous public-employee pensions, for state-owned golf courses, and for wretched public schools. Higher taxes are no guarantee of a more civilized society.

As a matter of fact, when Holmes defended taxes as the price tag of civilization, there were no federal and state income taxes. Massachusetts didn't begin taxing incomes until 1916, which means that for most of its history, the Bay State survived - even thrived - without an income tax. As Howell's ballot proposal advances, the fearmongers will shrilly warn that voting yes will plunge us into the Dark Ages. Like all addicts, those hooked on high taxes are terrified by the prospect of giving up their drug. They cannot imagine how much better they will feel when they learn to live without it.

Good luck with that. The Bay State income tax rate was "temporarily" increased up from a baseline 5% rate back in the late eighties and it hasn't come back yet. Jay Tea recounts what happened in 2000 when Massachusetts voters finally had the temerity to ask for the old rate back:

In 2000, in a rare display of common sense, the people of Massachusetts had a referendum on their income tax rate. They voted, 59%-41%, in favor lf slashing it from 5.85% down to 5%. (It had been raised as a "temporary, emergency measure" in the 1980's.) The then-speaker of the House didn't care for losing control of that much money, so he got the legislature to "freeze" the cut at 5.3%, with plans to jack it back up later.

So much for vox populi. They don't call it the "Commonwealth" for nothing: your money is the state's money.

Name dropping and some history - P.J. O'Rourke reviews Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr: "Yet Journals is so much more than gush. Its pages also crack open a hellgate to give us a peek at the eternally consuming fires of egotistic solipsism to which the soul of a liberal is forever condemned." So, then, he didn't like it.

"That piece of halibut was good enough for Jehovah" *

From BBC News, via Fark - "Malaysian row over word for "'God'" : "A church and Christian newspaper in Malaysia are suing the government after it decreed that the word "Allah" can only be used by Muslims."

Free speech is a funny thing. I remember during the whole flag-burning kerfuffle somebody asking if it would be OK to pour lighter fluid on a non-flammable metallic American flag and set it on "fire." Those are the kind of distinctions that must be made whenever it's decided that certain words cannot come out of somebody's mouth. But what if a person is indecisive about lunch? "I'll...ah...have the BLT." How about if we non-Muslims give Allah a "code name" so we won't offend Malaysians? "Mohammad's Big Guy?" "Dr. Jihad?" How about something simple like "Melvin?" "Melvin Akbar!" Eh, needs work.

Perfect Patriots - The New England Patriots just became the first team to go 16-0 in the regular season, the first since the Miami Dolphins to go undefeated (14-0 in 1972), Tom Brady broke Peyton Manning's TD pass record and Randy Moss passed Jerry Rice's TD reception record. What a game. The Giants kept it too close for comfort with a final score of 38-35 but a smothered onside kick sealed the game for the Pats.

This just in - From the Boston Globe: "Patriots are perfect 16-0"

Time and travel - Blogging has been slow because I've been motoring all over the Eastern seaboard visiting relatives for the (extended) holiday season. So far my favorite Christmas present has been Mark Steyn's "America Alone" which compounds my fear over demographics in America (vis a vis Social Security) with a new fear over what groups will be filling the demographic void (hint: they pray to the East a lot). It's a fabulous and funny page-turner about the collapse of modern society.

Riots, of course - Here they come. From Gateway Pundit: "10 dead following Bhutto assassination"

Health care for all, paid by some - Over at Q&O, McQ has some questions about whether it's really the responsibility of the government to provide health care for all. Illuminating fact: "Did you know that 5% of the population spends nearly 60% of the health care dollars (and 10% spend 70%). In fact, .5% spend 25%." The resistance to required health care coverage in Massachusetts is primarily from younger, healthier workers who don't want to incur an expense for coverage they don't want. Maybe this is short-term thinking, but is it the government's responsibility to force them into paying for coverage? This is nanny state legislation coupled with an unfunded benefit. As McQ notes, health care rationing can't be far behind.

Foreshadowing - Only four days ago, Jeff Jacoby had an article in the Boston Globe on "The Islamist war on Muslim women." And now the most famous woman in the Muslim world has been assassinated. Madness.

More - News and blogger reaction over at Memeorandum.

Merry Christmas, everyone


"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

Abraham Lincoln
First Inaugural Address, 1861

John Kerry tries self-parody - From Swamp Politics "Kerry threatens NFL if Patriots-Giants not on NBC": "Kerry asked football Commissioner Roger Goodell today to move the game to NBC – and threatened Senate hearings if he does not."

Wow. This is like a whole new level of "do you know who I am?"

Here come those unintended consequences again - Jay Tea on Wizbang recounts what happened in Massachusetts when private companies were compelled to provide health insurance under state law. Some dropped full coverage to employees to spread minimal coverage to all employees. Others split their companies into smaller companies with fewer than 11 employees to gain exemption. Why won't people submit to the will of Beacon Hill and take on an expense they don't want? Selfish, that's what that is.

As well they should

It's Christmastime, so let's roll out that old seasonal chestnut: "Unpaid credit cards bedevil Americans"

An Associated Press analysis of financial data from the country's largest card issuers also found that the greatest rise [in delinquencies] was among accounts more than 90 days in arrears.

Brilliant! People who don't pay their credit card bills after two months are unlikely to pay them after three months.

Experts say these signs of the deterioration of finances of many households are partly a byproduct of the subprime mortgage crisis and could spell more trouble ahead for an already sputtering economy.

Yeah, and they're partly - oh, let's just say "mostly" - caused by juvenile, irresponsible people who actually fall for the Siren call of the credit card companies who urge us all to spend, spend, spend and worry about the payments later. Should the federal government also bail out those poor, misled Americans who can't afford a 60-inch television? Can you say "moral hazard"? I knew you could.

Extra - "Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford"

Amazing Race update - Tattoo you, Leonardo

There's only five teams left in a relentless series of eliminations and everybody is heading to Split, Croatia on the way to a ferry heading to Italy. Once across the Adriatic, teams must drive 200 miles to Empoli, Italy and find a certain vineyard. The teams are given a Blackberry for incoming emails but they're told they cannot use the device for any additional information (foreshadowing?). TK & Rachel leave their clue on a table at a cafe while asking for directions and start blaming each other for losing it. They turn around and head back to find it, which is not good for them. Eventually they find the clue and head off to Empoli.

Back on the road, everybody's Blackberrys spring to life with email from friends and family. Teams are night-driving in a strange country, trying to figure out the best route to the next clue. Nathan & Jennifer arrive at the vineyard first but it doesn't open until 7am the next morning, so what difference does it make? Hard to believe, but TK & Rachel arrive second since they managed to drive around a (genuine) roadblock that closed the road for the other teams.

At the clue, it's either a Roadblock or a Fast Forward. For the Roadblock, one team member must take a 30-minute ultraflight ride to find the name of their next destination down on the ground. In the Fast Forward, one team must head off to "Fabio Studios" where - only once they're there - do they discover it's a tattoo parlor and both team members must get a small tattoo. Both Team Generic Couple and Team Birkenstock decline to take the Fast Forward for the ultraflight ride. Arriving fourth at this stop, Nicolas & Donald decide to try the Fast Forward and jump ahead. Maybe.

Back at the Roadblock, Nathan finds the letters "Vinci" on a wheatfield and tells his pilot to return; teams must now head to the birthplace of Leonardo Da Vinci. Kynt & Vyxsin haven't even arrived at the Roadblock yet, so they're bringing up the rear. But TK seems unable to find the huge letters "Vinci" down below after multiple flights.

Speaking of Vinci, Nathan & Jennifer find their way to the birthplace of Leonardo to find the Detour: Invention or Tradition. Teams may either lift up a stone with an elaborate crane or learn a flag routine. Meanwhile, Nicolas & Donald grab their first #1 finish (maybe their first next-to-last finish) by getting tattoos and heading to Boboli Gardens and the Pit Stop. Nathan & Jennifer, then Ronald & Christina choose "tradition" and learn the flag routine; Kynt & Vyxsin take one look at the "invention" and also head over to the flags. But their car is busted and they abandon it to run to the Detour. Meanwhile, TK & Rachel finish the crane and head off to the Pit Stop. But wait! They're also having car trouble as they blow a tire on the way to the Pit Stop.

While they're completing the Detour, Kynt & Vyxsin are provided with a replacement car according to the rules of the Race. But the time spent heading back and forth is more time than it takes for TK to change a flat tire, so Team Sexual Confusion arrives in last place. However, this is the first of only two non-elimination legs so they're spared the early trip home. But there's a brand-new twist for the NEL. In the past, teams had their money confiscated, or their backpacks, or were required to finish in first place on the next leg. Now Phil informs us that Kynt & Vyxsin will face the first "Speed Bump" - an undefined extra task that may appear at any time along the remainder of the Race. That's going to be good.

Final standings:

1 - Nicolas & Donald - Team Rude Boy and Gramps
2 - Nathan & Jennifer - Team Generic Couple
3 - Ronald & Christina - Team Miyagi and Grasshopper
4 - TK & Rachel - Team Birkenstock
5 - Kynt & Vyxsin - Team Sexual Confusion - NON-ELIMINATION LEG

Next week - Looks like India, maybe. Ronald is a jerk.

Come to the Cabernet, my friends - From the Economist: "In 2008 America will become the biggest consumer of wine in the world, overtaking both Italy and the previous champion, France."

The year that was - Via Wizbang, AP picks the top 10 news stories of 2007. It's positively silly that "global warming" is at #6 since I can think of about a dozen other issues more important and, um, non-mythical.

(Note to Exxon/Mobil: still have not received large check. Please check outgoing mail.)

Man of the Year - Weekly Standard picks the anti-Putin: "Gen. David Petraeus" More from Gateway Pundit.

Pressuring Zimbabwe - From the Boston Globe: "Standing up to Mugabe"

The last 18 songs I downloaded off ITunes

Usually I shoot for 20 per CD but I ran out of online credits. Fortunately, I'll likely get some new ITunes cards for Christmas.

Shine a Little Light - ELO
The Happiest Girl in the whole U.S.A. - Donna Fargo
Little Green Bag - George Baker Selection
Bad Blood - Neil Sedaka
Isn't it Time? - The Babys
Why Can't I? - Liz Phair
Heat of the Moment - Asia
The "In" Crowd - Ramsey Lewis
Allentown - Billy Joel
Smoke Smoke Smoke that Cigarette - Tex Williams
So Into You - Atlanta Rhythm Section
Killer Joe - The Rocky Fellers
Both Sides Now - Judy Collins
Carefree Highway - Gordon Lightfoot
Wake Up Call - Maroon 5
Music is my hot hot sex - CSS
Rhinestone Cowboy - Glen Campbell
You Sexy Thing - Hot Chocoate

Discuss.

Long live the queen - From the Boston Globe "Queen reaches milestone - oldest British monarch": "Elizabeth, 81, passed the mark set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria. Her son, Prince Charles, closed in on the title of longest-waiting heir to the throne."

The bill on unsustainable promises - Know how I go on and on about the federal entitlement crisis? As Bulldog Pundit reminds us, in some states, there is a pension crisis just waiting to explode: "However, if you live in New Jersey, the pension fund is well below the required amount needed to be set aside - but the real shock is that there is a $21.6 billion bill coming due over the next few decades for non-pension retirement benefits - and the state has set aside nothing. Zip. Zero. Nada. The same is true of New York, California, Texas, Florida and Illinois."

Zimbabwe introduces the kajillion dollar bill - From the BBC: "Zimbabwe to issue new banknotes." How high will it get? With an annual inflation rate of 8,000% (not a typo) the government is phasing out the now-worthless $200,000 bill which was introduced only five months ago.

Please come to Boston - From the Globe "Smaller Mass. colleges court out-of-staters": "With Massachusetts experiencing minimal population growth, and demographic studies predicting that the ranks of high school graduates in the region are poised to sharply decline, many private schools in New England with limited national profiles are increasingly courting students in the fast-growing Sun Belt."

And by "minimal" population growth, we mean "no" growth, which dovetails with the Bay State's anemic economic growth rate (which is why I have to work in Connecticut.) Some people think the answer lies with pro-business policies and lower corporate tax rates to attract companies and jobs to the Bay State. Others are betting on slot jockeys, buffets, and lounge acts. Sigh.

Put your best two fingers forward - From Down Under: "How to best win at rock, paper, scissors" (HT: Fark)

Overdue redesign - New England Republican finally has a redesigned site. I always saw formatting errors in the past but now it's nice and clean.

No thanks - Hillary's Christmas gifts to America. That's strange: why is my wallet empty?

Extra - From Riehl World View "Now HERE is a dumb Christmas ad": "I can't get over this. So, she's going to take your tax dollars and give them back to you, or, more likely, someone or something else, and that's giving???"

Quote of the Day - From the appropriately-named David Obey: "Rep. David Obey, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said Democrats "have tried every way known to man to bring this war to a conclusion."

In the end, they even tried throwing another $70 billion at it.

Extra - Fred Barnes: "An Astonishing Turnaround on Iraq"

The boxer - Weekly Standard: "Does Harry Reid Need a Psychiatrist?"

"Roll them bones, Pilgrim!"

Who can figure out Bay State governor Deval Patrick? From the Boston Globe: "Patrick plays his hand in battle over casinos"

Governor Deval Patrick launched a dramatic campaign yesterday for his plan to introduce three resort casinos in Massachusetts, telling a packed State House auditorium that gambling has long been part of the state's history and would not change the character of the Commonwealth.

This I gotta hear:

"For a very long time now, gaming has been in practice in Massachusetts, and gaming revenues have been used to support public projects," Patrick said. "In 1762, John Hancock raised lottery money to rebuild Faneuil Hall after a fire. Lottery funds were used to finance the Revolution."

There you have it: lotteries are the "gateway drug" to hardcore gambling. Can we "just say no?" Nope, we need the cash.

And all is right in the world - On word that her other famous (and underage) daughter is knocked up, Lynne Spears book on parenting has been indefinitely delayed.

There's no crying in baseball the Senate - Harry Reid is unclear on the concept of "turnabout is fair play."

Principles are for Republicans - Q&O comments on how the Democrats only want a candidate who is "electable": "That was how John F. Kerry became the last "electable" Democrat to ride it into the ground. It isn't principles, it isn't policies, it isn't experience - its electability."

It's a John Edwards headline night

From David Yepsen in the Des Moines Register: "Don't rule out surges by Edwards, Thompson"

Sounds promising. MSNBC: "Edwards leads in Iowa"

Looking good! Wait, what's this? Ah, probably nothing.

Extra - More from the Radio Equalizer.

Big Dig whack-a-mole: plug-a-leak

This headline in the Boston Globe is belied in the first paragraph: "Study sees progress in filling Big Dig leaks"

Construction crews have plugged hundreds of Big Dig leaks, but the tunnel system is still on pace to collect and pump out the same amount of water this year as it did in 2006, according to a study presented to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority board yesterday.

So fewer "leaks" but just as much water. This is "progress?"

Best Congress ever, continued - From Politico: "This much is clear: Democrats in Congress buckled under pressure from the White House to hold spending near the administration's specified limit, and they're poised to give the president more war money with no strings attached. But the buckling didn't stop there."

A new form of torture - I foolishly left on ABC tonight while writing some bills and had the misfortune to catch the network's newest game show called "Duel." To call it the height of tedium would be an understatement: I've never seen a show try to build so much suspense on so little foundation. I think they asked eight questions in an hour-and-a-half. At one point, even the contestants were exasperated and cried out "just tell us the answer!" The host churlishly responded "just for that we'll reveal the answer after this" [five minutes of commercials.] Awful in every conceivable way, ABC should cancel it before the week is out.

The perfect Christmas gift? - Oh, you'll laugh about it afterwards and tell the story over and over again to friends and family.

Special "air quotes" news analysis: Terror suspect "escapes" in Pakistan


Fox News: "Pakistani Authorities Say Terrorist Suspected of Plotting to Blow Up Trans-Atlantic Flights Has Escaped"

Pakistani authorities are "hunting" for a British man suspected in an alleged plot to blow up trans-Atlantic jetliners who "escaped" police custody, a deep embarrassment to the government of President Pervez Musharraf.

Rashid Rauf "fled" Saturday after appearing before a judge at a court in the capital Islamabad in connection with an inquiry before his extradition to Britain, Interior Secretary Kamal Shah said Sunday.

Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz assured Ambassador Robert Brinkely that the suspect's capture was a "priority," [ed.: ironic quote marks in original] British High Commission spokeswoman Laura Davies said.

Rauf "managed to open his handcuffs" and "evade two police guards" who were supposed to "take him back to jail" in nearby Rawalpindi, police said Saturday.

Shah said security teams were "searching the country" for Rauf and would report back within three days.

And so on from our "ally" Pakistan.

The holiday for the rest of us - From the AP "Festivus pole proposed at Green Bay City Hall": "The putting up of a nativity scene at Green Bay's City Hall has prompted a tongue-in-cheek request from a suburban man for permission to display a Festivus pole on the overhang of the building's northwest entrance." (HT: Fark)

Sunday morning lineup - Via Mark Kilmer, we find that John Edwards will be making the rounds on the morning talkshows. Meanwhile, Newsweek suggests that Edwards could be the surprise winner in Iowa. (HT: RCP)

Not playing along - You know, Fred Thompson isn't my favorite candidate but you have to admire this from Red State: "Not a pander bear."

Ron Silver good as gold

In this Pajamas Media blog entry, the only conservative in Hollywood gives Paul Krugman a well-deserved smackdown:

In Krugman’s reading of history, our president has damaged our democracy more than the Alien and Sedition Acts during John Adams’ tenure; more than the suspension of habeas corpus during Lincoln’s, more than Eugene Debs (a leader of the labor movement who opposed Woodrow Wilson as the Socialist Party candidate in the 1912 presidential election) going to jail, under the Espionage Act, to serve a 10-year sentence for making an anti-war speech during the Woodrow Wilson years. The Espionage Act was passed at the urging of President Woodrow Wilson, who feared any widespread dissent in time of war, thinking that it constituted a real threat to an American victory.

None dare call it BDS. (HT: Sister Toldjah)

That's a lot of cardboard - I ordered eight or nine things on Amazon last week and I think it's all coming in six separate shipments. They're just shoving stuff in boxes willy-nilly and sending 'em out. Imagine what that place is going to be like around, say, Wednesday.

The wisdom of Vito Corleone - Junkyard Blog reveals the brains behind Mike Huckabee's foreign policy. I guess they don't employ fact-checkers over in the Huck campaign, or at least somebody with a good head for movie trivia.

It's timely because I saw Hillary talking about Obama yesterday and she was peeling an orange. Hmmm...

Editorial of the day - From the Boston Globe: "Cars and snow don't mix"

Tell me about it. Here it comes again.

Best Congress ever

Everybody's upset with Congress including the Democrats themselves. I think they're doing a fine job, especially since they've taken no action on their agenda from Iraq, to energy legislation, spending priorities, and tax policy. In "The Delta House Congress," the Wall Street Journal editorializes that the Democrats are smitten with token votes they know will fail to demonstrate "action" to the Nutroots:

As they careen toward the end of their first year in charge, Congressional leaders seem capable of nothing but futile gestures. Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid failed once again to get enough votes for an energy bill, having refused to remove a $21.8 billion tax increase on energy that President Bush has promised to veto in any case. Mr. Reid was vowing to try again as we went to press.

Meanwhile, in Nancy Pelosi's House of self-inflicted pain, the Blutarsky strategy played out yesterday in one more hopeless attempt to pass a tax increase to "pay for" Alternative Minimum Tax relief. The Senate has already voted 88-5 against any such tax hike, so this House bill is dead before arrival. But Ms. Pelosi's troops are just the guys to do it anyway.

Could this guy do any worse than Harry Reid?


I think not!

Hillary tries to turn lemons into lemonade

Hillary Clinton gave a press conference today where she pitched herself as a known quantity. It's "no surprises" from her:

"I've been tested, I've been vetted," she said. "There are no surprises. There's not going to be anybody saying, 'I didn't think of that, my goodness, what's that going to mean?'"

I've written before about the Rule of 14 and the suggestion that Americans shun candidates who have been in the public eye for too long. This personal appeal seems like a bizarre strategy for a candidate who, let's face it, is not very well liked.

"You know me"? Yeah, all too well.

Extra - Larry Kudlow wonders if this is 1972 all over again. I don't think so because I'm not sure Hillary is capable of crying.

More - Via Belmont Club, here's the chair of the Wyoming Democratic Party: "For reasons I don’t agree with and don’t completely understand, most voters in Wyoming seem to hate Hillary Clinton. This is in part due to the perception of her as being someone who supports big government, most notably through a federal government takeover of the health care system." Known quantity, indeed.

Bipartisan commission, save me!

CNN/Money has a guide called "Saving Social Security" with links to the presidential candidates and how they'd deal with the program's pending insolvency. For example, here's an excerpt from Hillary's "solution":

Proposal to pay for the funding gap: No specifics beyond saying what she won't do: cut benefits or raise the retirement age.

Bold leadership! At least Obama and Edwards have the guts to propose a tax hike, which is the wrong approach, but as a minimum addresses the heart of the problem. Mike Huckabee's plan is some foolish "wealth tax" which erases Social Security's vaunted universality. Giuliani is no better than Hillary: "Hasn't come out with a position." At least everybody agrees that political cover in the form of a bipartisan commission will fix everything. How depressing.

Iowa stubborn *

Here's Frank Foer on Hillary's "Parking Lot Obstacle" in Iowa:

But Hillary has a much bigger problem on her hands. When you caucus, you don't just dump a secret ballot into a slot. Caucuses are social events and individual decisions on caucus night are shaped by social pressures. Gephardt veterans like to describe how their 2004 free fall occurred in the moments between the time that caucus-goers parked their cars and sat down to do the evening's business. That's when they encountered the enthusiasm for Kerry and Edwards with their own eyes; they grew ashamed to cast their votes for someone so seemingly fusty as Gephardt. Sticking with Gephardt became an act of social courage that stunningly few made--at least relative to his stronger pre-caucus poll numbers.

Clearly, Obama is shrouded in an excitement that Hillary can't match at present. So, how will Hillary's soft supporters respond when confronted with this excitement on caucus night? Will they hold firm to their commitment to Hillary in the face of this enthusiasm? Or will they decide to give into Obama as they make their way from the parking lot. Hillary is hardly doomed to a Gephardt-like crumble on caucus night. Enthusiasm for Obama could wane between now and January 3rd. And she could solidify her support. But if I were her people, I'd be worried about such a doomsday scenario.

Well, I'm sure Hillary's charisma and likability will carry the day. The question here is the depth of Hillary's support in Iowa which seems (to me) as fleeting as Howard Dean's in 2004. On the eve of that caucus, I tracked some other bloggers' predictions and only one picked Kerry over the favorite Dean. Who knows what the children of the corn will do in three weeks?

National Review in the Happy Valley

Last night, Jonah Goldberg visited my neck of the woods out here in Western Massachusetts where he gave a speech at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst). His take:

More in the morning, but I must say I can't remember visiting a campus where the leftwingness seemed more intense or pronounced. And I've been to a lot of campuses.

Frankly, I'm surprised they afforded him freedom of speech. I can only guess that it's because the campus liberals are too busy studying for finals.

That's quite a headline - From the WashPost "Democrats Bow to Bush's Demands in House Spending Bill": "House Democratic leaders yesterday agreed to meet President Bush's bottom-line spending limit on a sprawling, half-trillion-dollar domestic spending bill, dropping their demands for as much as $22 billion in additional spending but vowing to shift funds from the president's priorities to theirs." Always with the vows, those guys.

(Welcome, Real Clear Politics readers!)

Viking Pundit to run Citigroup - What? Oh. Never mind, it's Vikram Pandit. You can understand my confusion.

Battle of the dogmas - Pope B. takes on Al Gore. It's green vs. God, baby!

Political speech = free speech. Let it be.

George Will heaps scorn on the very notion of the Federal Election Committee in today's WashPost: "Paralyze the FEC? Splendid."

What if we had deregulated politics -- including the sort of presidential campaigns that produced 33 presidents (including some pretty good ones -- Lincoln, TR, the sainted Coolidge, FDR, Truman, Ike) before the Federal Election Commission was created in 1975? Most of the rules, the possible nonenforcement of which has The Post in a swivet [" The Missing Referee," editorial, Dec. 7], are constitutionally dubious abridgements of freedom of speech and association, so sensible citizens should rejoice about the current disarray of the FEC.

The six-person FEC -- three members from each party -- enforces the rules it writes about how Americans are permitted to participate in politics. You thought the First Amendment said enough about that participation? Silly you.

The machinations of the FEC have only made election rules more Byzantine but elections are no less corrupt. We should have more faith in democracy than to try to enforce arbitrary restrictions on free speech, which are often crafted as a kind of incumbency protection scheme.

Extra - From the Hill: " New 527 group takes aim at campaign contribution limits"

Al Gore: "As the American poet Robert Frost wrote, 'Some say the world will end in fire; some say in ice.' Either, he notes, 'would suffice.' But neither need be our fate. It is time to make peace with the planet."

Charles Montgomery Burns: "Oooh, so Mother Nature needs a favor?! Well maybe she should have thought of that when she was besetting us with droughts and floods and poison monkeys! Nature started the fight for survival, and now she wants to quit because she's losing. Well I say, hard cheese."

No blogging tonight - Unavoidable homework instead.

However, I can't resist posting this one thought: the judge in the Michael Vick case should have sentenced him to only four months in prison, then bumped it up to 28 months to account for the standard seven-to-one "dog years" conversion.

Amazing Race update - I saw the harbor fights

Wow, it's been a long time since we've had a non-elimination leg in the Race with five straight teams knocked out. The remaining six teams started out from Vilnius, Lithuania and had to make their way to Dubrovnik, Croatia and find the Fort of St. Lawrence. It's very late at night so everybody's bunched up at the airport and they're all suspicious of each other's actions. Kynt & Vyxsin get some attention in one airline office and Ronald responds unfavorably when they don't share information. Azaria turns Mr. Hyde on his sister as tensions mount even though it looks like everybody's going to end up on the same connecting flight.

Whoops - big mistake for Team Alpha Siblings. They got tickets in business class and the rules of the Race are very clear that only economy tickets may be purchased. They rush back to the ticket counter but all the economy seats on the plane they want are booked. However, they make another flight through Frankfurt and the agent tells them that all the teams flying through Prague will be late due to delays. Everybody is scrambling across Europe, through Vienna and Zagreb, trying to get to Dubrovnik.

Finally at the clue, it's a Roadblock. One team member must help rebuild a harbor war by finding the one brick that fits jigsaw-like into the wall. Ronald & Christina do this right away and head to the next clue, via tandem zipline over the harbor. Now it's the Detour: Short & Long or Long & Short. Teams may either rappel down a wall then climb up another wall before searching for the next clue OR take a swim, then row a boat around the harbor to the next clue. The rowing seems more physical although it's a shorter search through the harbor plaza for the clue. Ronald loses steam quickly and Nathan & Jennifer try to paddle the boat like a canoe. Team Sexual Confusion chooses to go down-rope then up rope-ladder. Where are the remaining teams?

Team Generic Couple arrive seconds ahead of Team Miyagi and Grasshopper at the clue and they're all directed to the Pit Stop at the Stone Cross. But Nathan & Jennifer are turned away from a taxi because they're wet from the rowboat. Ronald & Christiana hop into a less-discriminating cab and speed off to the Pit Stop, leaving Jennifer behind spiraling into meltdown mode. They beg some guy (not a taxi driver) to take them to the Pit Stop and arrive in second place. However, Phil gives them the disapproving look and sends them back down to the harbor because they took a non-official mode of transportation. Down they go, then back, but Kynt & Vyxsin pass them in the intervening time to snatch second place. When Team Generic Couple arrives, they celebrate with a frigid handshake. Meanwhile the other three teams are just arriving in town with Team Alpha Siblings bringing up the rear.

It's a two-way sprint for Nicolas & Donald vs. Azaria & Hendekea for the last slot. Team Alpha Siblings are in much better shape, but it looks like Team Rude Boy & Gramps have a fair lead ahead. Sure enough, we get the fake drama (shaky camera up the steps!) until we see it's Nicolas and Donald grabbing their second next-to-last slot in a row. Team Alpha Siblings come up short and are not spared with a non-elimination leg. For the sixth straight leg of the Race, the last place team is booted.

Final standings:

1 - Ronald & Christina - Team Miyagi and Grasshopper
2 - Kynt & Vyxsin - Team Sexual Confusion
3 - Nathan & Jennifer - Team Generic Couple
4 - TK & Rachel - Team Birkenstock
5 - Nicolas & Donald - Team Rude Boy and Gramps
6 - Azaria & Hendekea - Team Alpha Siblings - PHILIMINATED

Next episode - Two weeks away, Donald looks like he's near the end.

He sees the green light - From Hot Air: "Former anti-nuke protester: Increase nuclear power use to save the world"

Who invited that guy? - Robert Mugabe attends the EU-Africa summit and Gordon Brown backs out in protest.

Compare and contrast these Obama quotes

Speaking for Barack, here's Oprah: "For the first time in my life, I feel compelled to stand up and speak for the man that I believe has a new vision for America."

And speaking against Obama, here's civil rights figure Andrew Young: "He's [Bill Clinton] probably gone with more black women than Barack." But he was just "clowning" so it's OK.

The gambling life here in the Bay State

From the Boston Globe "Groups mobilize against casinos": "Gambling opponents are emerging from months of relative inactivity and mobilizing against Governor Deval Patrick's casino plan, hoping to capitalize on a tepid effort by the governor to secure its passage." The groups have organized under an umbrella group called Casino Free Mass.

And in other gaming news: "Massachusetts state lottery hopes to pay winnings to ex-convict."

Elliott, 55, is a two-time convicted bank robber who was accused last month of violating the terms of his probation when he bought a $10 scratch ticket and won $1 million.

"We would like to see him get his money," Dan Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the lottery, said yesterday. "What we are talking about is the integrity of the game. He played the game. He won the game. The integrity of the game is very important to us. That's our business."

Yes, we wouldn't want to sully the reputation of the lottery or casinos. It's all wholesome fun whether you're a slot jockey or an ex-convict.

Somebody's going down

From the Boston Globe - "White House advised CIA to keep tapes":

White House and Justice Department officials, along with senior members of Congress, advised the Central Intelligence Agency in 2003 against a plan to destroy hundreds of hours of videotapes showing the interrogation of two operatives of Al Qaeda, government officials said yesterday.

The chief of the agency's clandestine service nevertheless ordered their destruction in 2005, taking the step without notifying the CIA's top lawyer, John A. Rizzo, who was angry at the decision, the officials said.

I thought the Director of National Intelligence was supposed to bring order to the intelligence communities, but we're still wandering in an intelligence nebula while top officials continue to do as they please. Infuriating.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark

It's the massive marginal tax rate. Young, skilled Danes are getting out of town, leaving the government to wonder who's going to pay for all the social programs. From the International Herald Tribune: "High income taxes in Denmark worsen a labor shortage"

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which is based in Paris, projects that Denmark's growth rate will fall to an annual rate of slightly more than 1 percent for the five years beginning in 2009, reflecting a dwindling supply of a vital input for any economy: labor.

The problem, employers and economists believe, has a lot to do with the 63 percent marginal tax rate paid by top earners in Denmark - a level that hits anyone making more than 360,000 Danish kroner, or about $70,000. That same tax rate underpins such effective income redistribution that Denmark is the most nearly equal society in the world, in that wealth is more evenly spread than anywhere else.

Yeah, income redistribution is great unless you're one of the top earners getting their income redistributed away. So many young Danes have moved to London for the lower tax rate that it's jokingly referred to as a Danish town.

Extra - Mark Steyn on the clash of cultures brewing in Europe. Why did I add this? Because as skilled workers flee high tax rates, the labor force needs to be filled by large-scale immigration. Demographics is destiny.

Mall shooting in Omaha - Details here, here, and here.

Stark raving mad - "George Bush ruined my marriage" and other nutty quotes from Daily Kos in 2007. Keep in mind that these are contributors and not commenters.

Stop me before I charge again

As I've written before, I hate credit card companies and they hate me. So I should have gathered some glee from this story: "Lawmakers grill credit card execs - Senators want issuers to do away with multiple fees and pegging rates to credit scores. Companies warn tighter policies would limit credit and raise prices."

The problem is that I believe in the free market and that, if you don't like your seller, you don't have to be a customer. The same is true for credit card companies which is why the example the senators used to showcase corporate "abuse" fell flat:

[Senator Carl] Levin highlighted the case of Janet Hard, a Discover Card customer who testified about her experience at Tuesday's hearing.

"Janet pays her bills on time and has never exceeded her credit limit," Levin said. "In 2006, Discover Card raised her interest rate from 18 percent to 24 percent because her credit score had dropped but they didn't tell her why it had dropped."

With the higher rate, most of Hard's monthly payments went toward covering her finance charges instead of bringing down her principal debt.

"We paid our bills on time and never accrued a balance over our credit limit," said Hard, a registered nurse who is married with two children. "I thought the 24 percent rate was an error. But the company said they ran a spontaneous check that put us at a risk of defaulting on our payments. I feel sick. It's hard for me to get my mind around that."

Heartbreaking, except nearly every credit card issuer will offer a new card for a transferred balance at zero percent interest for six to twelve months. Shift your debt and cut up your Discover card. Janet seems to think that the credit card companies are good neighbors out to lend a hand; they're not, and they depend on the financially ignorant to prosper. Don't be so shocked.

Not so relentlessly - From the NYT "U.S. says Iran ended atomic arms work": "A new assessment by American intelligence agencies concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains frozen, contradicting judgment two years ago that Tehran was working relentlessly toward building a nuclear bomb."

Captain Ed shares his thoughts: "Hmm. What might have happened in 2003 to convince Teheran to stop its nuclear-weapons pursuit?" Read VDH also.

Another thought - From Q&O: maybe our intelligence agencies don't have a clue. That, too.

Poof goes the Clinton candidacy?

Here's Ron Christie on The Hill blog, proffering that the Clinton campaign is on its last legs:

And now Sen. Clinton has decided to dig a bigger hole for herself by attacking the integrity and candor of Iowa caucus front-runner Obama. And Clinton is attacking a political candidate for his integrity and candor? As “Dandy” Don Meredith used to sing on “Monday Night Football” decades ago late in the fourth quarter: “Turn out the lights, the party’s over. All good things must come to an end.” Attacking Sen. Obama, a fresh face and generally positive campaigner, with the Clinton War Machine will remind voters once again why they have tired of Clintons posturing and preening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Turn out the lights: After losing Iowa and New Hampshire, the Clinton party will be over for 2008.

Oh how I'd like to believe it, but Clinton's War Machine is extremely well-funded and organized. Then again, if the Rule of 14 has taught us anything, it's that Americans get fed up with national figures and then start to wonder if they want them in their living rooms for four (more) years.

There's no crying in baseball - From Opinion Journal on the nomination of Judge Jim Rogan: "How much more partisan and petty can Washington get? California's Sen. Barbara Boxer is refusing even to allow a hearing for a judicial nominee who has the backing of prominent Democrats, in part because she harbors a decade-old grudge about the Clinton impeachment."

I'll just take a moment to remind the Democrats that they have an excellent chance of re-taking the White House. So there will be no whining when Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans filibuster judicial nominees in 2009, 'kay?

Good news - From OTB: "Sudan pardons teddy bear teacher"

George W. Bush wins another election


From the Miami Herald:

Chavez himself has made a point of presenting the vote as one more chapter in the battle against ''the empire.'' 'Anyone who votes `No' is voting for George W. Bush,'' Chavez shouted to a sea of supporters Friday.

And just like every Dubya election, it was a nail-biter:

President Hugo Chavez suffered a stunning defeat Monday in a referendum that would have let him run for re-election indefinitely and impose a socialist system in this major U.S. oil provider.

Voters defeated the sweeping measures Sunday by a vote of 51 percent to 49 percent, said Tibisay Lucena, chief of the National Electoral Council, with voter turnout at just 56 percent.

This election reminds me of the 1990 presidential election in Nicaragua when Violeta Chamorro defeated Castro's buddy Daniel Ortega. A New York Times story at the time revealed that when Nicaraguans were polled, they overwhelmingly voice their support for the Communist president...unless the pollster was holding a blue-and-white pencil symbolic of Chamorro's UNO Party. Similarly, polls were indicating a tight vote in Venezuela but I was cautiously optimistic that the "silent majority" would come out to vote against dictatorship.

Extra - Lots of Venezuela info on Fausta's blog.

Updates updates updates! - Gateway Pundit is keeping an eye on the Constitutional referendum in Venezuela. Did Chavez lose or will he rig the results? Maybe he won, but probably not.

It's a free-for-all in Iowa - Here are some words I never expected to type: Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama are leading in the Iowa polls. It seems that Hillary has ticked off everybody in the state by calling during dinner.

"Intellectual venality" - The media critic for the Los Angeles Times absolutely excoriates CNN: "In any event, CNN has failed in its responsibilities to the political process and it's time for the leaders of both the Republican and Democratic parties to take the network out of our electoral affairs." And yet it's Fox News which is network non grata among the Democrats.

Amazing Race update - Counting is, like, hard

I missed the first half of tonight's leg of the Race in part because my kid's swimming practice went way long. Teams were trying to get out of Africa and find the quickest way to Vilnius, Lithuania. Near as I can tell there was another Travelocity plug as teams needed to find dwarves and then carry them to the mat. But first there was a Detour: Count it or Step up. Teams may either count fence posts along a road in a rural town, or walk a couple dozen yards on stilts. If they miscount the fence posts, teams have to start all over; if they fall over on the stilts, same deal.

Jennifer (of Team Generic Couple) provides us with a blonde moment as she's shown counting: "87, 88, 89, 100." Unsurprisingly, her fence post count is off by exactly 10. Nicholas & Donald, who arrived on a late flight to Lithuania, catch up to the other teams and start counting fence posts. However, only after counting a bunch of posts do they re-read the directions indicating that they are not to count the gates along the fence. Using some clever arithmetic, they finish counting posts then go back and subtract the parts they erroneously added. Serendipity: the plus-then-minus strategy works and they end up with the right number. In doing so, they pass Team Fun Bags who couldn't seem to master the extended sequence of 717 posts. The blondes arrive in last place and are eliminated from the Race. This was a little surprising since this is now the sixth straight leg of the Race without a non-elimination round.

Final standings:

1 - TK & Rachel - Team Birkenstock Prize: Trip to Japan
2 - Kynt & Vyxsin - Team Sexual Confusion
3 - Nathan & Jennifer - Team Generic Couple
4 - Ronald & Christina - Team Miyagi and Grasshopper
5 - Azaria & Hendekea - Team Alpha Siblings
6 - Nicolas & Donald - Team Rude Boy and Gramps
7 - Shana & Jennifer - Team Fun Bags - PHILIMINATED

Next week: Tensions rise on the powerhouse Team Alpha Siblings.

Surprise proposal - On the set of "Scrubs." Great video.

Don't these people have jobs? - Thousands march in Sudan demanding harsher punishment for a British teacher: "Practicing the religion of peace in Sudan." And here's more from Expat Yank.

Why we're looking to Donald Trump to save our bacon - From Hub Politics: "Massachusetts ranks 49th in job growth." Bring on the casinos, government planners. Great idea.

Oil crazy - From CNN: "Chavez threatens to cut oil if U.S. questions vote"

Translation: "I'm going to rig this election no matter what."

Extra - From Publius Pundit: "Chavez and the avoidable Venezuelan apocalypse"

Random thought - Listening to Colbie Caillat's "Bubbly" I was wondering if there's ever a situation where you wouldn't refer to your nose along with the verb "crinkle." With what other noun would you associate "crinkle?" A discarded piece of paper? Maybe.

Goodnight, dear readers!

What liberal media? - The White House vs. Helen Thomas

More - From Captain Ed.