Politico Blames Conservative Blogger for Anthony's Weiner ― UPDATE: Conservative Blogger Takes Credit!

Ben Smith makes a bold assumption at Politico. That lewd picture sent from Rep. Anthony Weiner's Twitter account to the coed in Washington ― Smith is very confident that it came from a conservative blogger:

She blames an anonymous person who "had harassed me many times after the Congressman followed me on Twitter a month or so ago" -- likely a conservative blogger who's been focusing on Weiner's Twitter feed -- for ginning up the storm.

The statement doesn't say whether she's been in touch with Weiner amid the recent fuss, but it has a kind of comprehensiveness and force that make it quite effective.

UPDATE:

You know what, y'all? Since it's already become so obvious, I'm going to go ahead and take responsibility for this one.

Q: What was Weiner's Twitter password?

A: ScrappyLuvsBBW69.

Same for his yfrog acccount. Duh!

Q: Isn't it a strange coincidence that among the mere 91 people Weiner followed, one just happened to be a busty coed with a crush on him, who called him her "boyfriend?"

A: I added Gennette Cordova to Weiner's list shortly after I successfully guessed his password.

Here's another question from Ace:

Q: The Comely Coed called Weiner her "boyfriend" and friends commented that she had a "crush" on him. Are we to believe the hacker knew the one woman in the world who might be interested in a dic-pic from the homely anteater Anthony Weiner?

A: I'm singularly obsessed with Anthony Weiner. Don't ask me why. I started blogging about him long before I "ginned up this storm." I follow Weiner's tweets on Twitter, and I track his followers' tweets by searching "@RepWeiner" several times each day. After monitoring Weiner's Twitter activity, it became obvious that Weiner's self-proclaimed "girlfriend," Gennette Cordova, was the ideal candidate for an epic online prank.

Q: Those skinny legs in that picture?

A: Weiner and I are virtually identical from the waist down.

~~~

Seriously. I did this. I don't know why Weiner hasn't come after me already. My prank may have been brilliant, but I'm really not very tech savvy. I should have been caught by now. I cannot answer the questions that I do not have the answers to.

Any more questions?

UPDATE II:

RS McCain seems to think I'm joking. Oh well, thanks for the link!

All Weiner, All The Time ― UPDATE: Gennette Nicole Cordova pictures

Weiner-gate buzz is dominating the discussion at Memeorandum.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) has been accused of sending a picture of his scantily clad "member" to Gennette Nicole Cordova, a 21-year-old college student in Washington.

Read all about it.

The notorious picture is HERE. If you don't want to see "it," don't click!

In case you forgot, this is the congressman who wants an ObamaCare waiver for NYC. But he is the self-proclaimed architect of Obamacare.

"I basically read the bill, wrote the bill ― the bill and I are one."

Flawed legislation from a flawed man.

Weiner has denied the accusations of impropriety thus far.

*Follow the latest on this story at The Other McCain.

Update: Inaccurate Statements by Congressman Anthony Weiner's Office on Coed Tweet Scandal (American Power)

UPDATE II: Student who got lewd pic from Rep. Anthony Weiner's Twitter account denies she's his mistress

Update III: Linked at Frugal Café Blog Zone. Thanks!

Update IV: Linked at Dave Lucas. Thanks!

Gennette Nicole Cordova pictures:

And a photo of Mr. Weiner with the Missus:

Mrs. Anthony Weiner, a.k.a. Huma Abedin

The Ostrich Party

Joe Nocera is a columnist at the New York Times, he's a business commentator for NPR, and he's a former Newsweek editor...

He's not a poster child for the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.

Today he took to the pages of the Gray Lady to offer sharp criticism of Paul Ryan's plan. He calls Ryan's "wrongheaded," "mean-spirited ," "absurd," and says it will make "health care far less affordable for millions of people."

BUT...

He praises Paul Ryan (very sparingly) and suggests that we can no longer afford to dismiss serious proposals for Medicare reform with a patellar reflex kick, even if those grody, gross, nasty, disgusting conservatives are at the negotiating table.

To my ears, that sounds like fairly reasonable left-of-center advice from a loyally progressive point of view.

But Nocera's op-ed is not nearly shrill enough for the professional left. Here are some of their reactions:

Paul Krugman, NYT:

...while some people are still trying to praise Ryan for starting a useful conversation, the reality is that he’s totally unwilling to let facts enter the debate. Look at his exchange with Ezra Klein over health care costs: this is not the sound of a sincere, open-minded guy.

Hullabaloo:

This is the new columnist for the NY Times, not some windbag blogger. And he's spouting the most shallow analysis of the current Medicare debate possible. And, sadly, it's probably going to have an influence on the way the Villagers see it.

No More Mister Nice Blog:

...the Republicans will never negotiate in good faith. You can't show them numbers demonstrating that their assumptions are wrong, because their numbers can't be wrong -- the God of the Free Market would not forsake her people. Either that or the God of the Free Market would not forsake anyone who did not deserve to be forsaken. They don't negotiate from our reality -- the one we think of as everyone's common reality. They're completely faith-based.

Washington Monthly:

"Nocera wants to give Ryan credit for noticing problems with [Medicare]. But that’s not just overly generous, it’s also setting the bar for seriousness way too low."

Comments at The Mahablog:

Dear Joe Nocera,

Would you start a serious debate with the economic terrorists who held your family hostage at the point where they tell you that no matter what you offer, the starting point is the your Grandparents are [f*ckng] goners?

If the zealots of the hard left insist on keeping their heads deeply buried (or if they choose to cannibalize anyone from their camp who dares to treat conservatives like human beings) that's their prerogative. But it's time for them to get out of the way and let the adults get down to business.

Shoe on The Other Foot

Providing fresh dextrorotatory enantiomers as alternatives to the products of the left wing spin machine:

U.S. Adults Estimate That 75% of Americans Are Straight (via The Last Tradition)

Michelle Obama is an unbearable tyrant (via Lonely Conservative)

Lech Walesa, Poland’s Solidarity-era legend, knows a pinko commie rat when he sees one. (via Weasel Zippers)

House GOP Fights Obama's Bully Tactics (via The Daley Gator)

Amazon.com's slathers best customers with flattery (via Tom Elia)

Hot News

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$500 Million Obama Administration Program Will Help Kids 'Sit Still' in Kindergarten

The Obama Presidency ― pro-Israel 12%; pro-Palestinian 40%

Netanyahu's popularity soaring following Washington trip

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Obama Boasts He Is Destroying Second Amendment “Under the Radar”

DC Liberals Sign Petition To Ban Drudge Report, Conservative Websites

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Saudi mother arrested for uploading a video of her driving on YouTube, faces another 10 days in jail.

Gateway Pundit: OK Bitches… Far Left Ladies of “The View” Think It’s OK to Call a Woman “Bitch” and “Slut”

Weasel Zippers: Soros-Funded ThinkProgress Libs Talk About Lynching Black Conservative

Top Videos

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Top Tweets

fredthompson: TranSec LaHood arrives in 12mpg SUV to unveil new fuel-economy stickers. Wonder if Napolitano's house has a moat with alligators?

pcam: The annual cost of regulatory compliance in the United States runs about $1.75 trillion a year

The_Real_CA: Bill Whittle: Turncoat Nation

Quote of the Day:

"Women will compete with men and ... more bastards to be left on the steps of mosques."

Bill Clinton vs The Do-Nothing Democrats

I'm not going to give Slick Willie too much credit, but Bill Clinton and Paul Ryan had a remarkable conversation:

“So anyway, I told them before you got here, I said I’m glad we won this race in New York,” Clinton told Ryan, when the two met backstage at a forum on the national debt held by the Pete Peterson Foundation. But he added, “I hope Democrats don’t use this as an excuse to do nothing.”

Ryan told Clinton he fears that now nothing will get done in Washington.

“My guess is it’s going to sink into paralysis is what’s going to happen. And you know the math. It’s just, I mean, we knew we were putting ourselves out there. You gotta start this. You gotta get out there. You gotta get this thing moving,” Ryan said.

Clinton told Ryan that if he ever wanted to talk about it, he should “give me a call.” Ryan said he would.

~~~

Mr. Clinton, with some passion, returned to the topic at the end of an hour-long interview. “I think the Democrats are going to have to be willing to give up, maybe, some short-term political gain by whipping up fears on some of these things — if it’s a reasonable Social Security proposal, a reasonable Medicare proposal. We’ve got to deal with these things. You cannot have health care devour the economy.”

~~~

The last thing Obama, Reid, and Schumer want before the election is one of their own elder statesmen — one who’s personally popular and famous for budget-balancing, no less — pressuring them to inch out on the Medicare limb that’s cracking under Ryan. So … why would he do it? Could be that he’s earnestly concerned about the Medicare time bomb and appreciates Ryan’s leadership on it...

MORE HERE

Could the Democrats be persuaded to take the entitlement crises seriously?

Nah!

Their Hopium addiction is incurable.

May the best demagogues win!

Hat tip: Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

X-posted

Eliminate The Elephant: Week 2

We will eliminate Republican candidates one by one. Vote for the candidate you would LEAST like to run against Barack Obama. Names are in random order. We'll weed out candidates until the least contemptible candidate is the only one left:

Last week, we eliminated Newt Gingrich (he was begging for it), and Mitch Daniels eliminated himself.

Other candidates, such as Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry or John Bolton, will be added to the list in future elimination polls.

~~~

Cheaters will be caught! Don't waste your time.

If you want to share this poll at your blog, leave a comment below. We'll run this poll until Sunday and then queue up the next one.

Detailed results from last week's poll:

Click image to enlarge

Thank You, Mrs. Mitch Daniels

Mitch Daniels is OUT!

IndyStar.com: Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels will not run for president

On matters affecting us all, our family constitution gives a veto to the women’s caucus, and there is no override provision,” Daniels said. “Simply put, I find myself caught between two duties. I love my country; I love my family more.

Recent reactions:

• Mitch Daniels out. Expect the pressure on Rep. Paul Ryan and Gov. Christie to increase dramatically.
• With Mitch Daniels out we can now focus on being bored with Tim Pawlenty.
• Mitch Daniels got 16 stitches on his forehead after getting hit by a door. How can u lead America when you can't lead your own face? [Background: story of the door]
• An hour or so after the news broke on Twitter, AP finally announces that Mitch Daniels is not running for President in 2012.
• Did Mitch Daniels seriously announce he's not running at one a.m.? He just wanted to make sure SNL was totally done for the year?

And from one of the RINOs at Frum Forum:

"Clearly he feared the unstoppable Herman Cain. Seriously, this bums me out..."

Why am I happy? Count the reasons.

MORE:

Politico, Memorandum

X-posted

Most Likely to Succeed: Hussein vs Herman

College daze: Barack Obama vs. Herman Cain

So on a 90 degree Saturday in Hotlanta, Herman Cain drew 10,000 - 15,000 supporters. I'd say that's not bad for a "long shot" presidential candidate ― particularly considering the fact that the crowd came out to hear Cain officially announce what he had already officially announced that he would officially announce...

How big have your crowds been lately, Mitt?

You can read all about the Herminator's big day elsewhere. Just a Conservative Girl drove 11 hours to be there. Sam Foster officially announces his official congratulations.

Meanwhile, Herman makes his case for his candidacy in this clever piece at Fox News, Solving for X. Don't miss it.

As for the picture above, it's a side-by-side comparison of Hussein and Herman during their college days. One was studying mathematics and computer science, the other was studying Marxism and benzoylmethylecgonine. If they had been in the same class, who do you suppose would have been voted most likely to succeed?

For reasons that are not obvious to me, the fascists at Think Progress are circulating the picture of young Herman. Surely they didn't want to jump-start feelings of voter regret by reminding us of what a shady, metrosexual pot head we managed to let into the White House in '08.

X-posted

A Liberal "Tea Party" Spoiler and His Entourage of Nuts

Jack Davis: Tea Party Liberal?

SPECIAL ELECTION ALERT:

On May 24, a self-described "tea party" candidate, Jack Davis, could be the key to victory for the Democrat in a special election to replace a disgraced U.S. congressman in NY-26 .

The Republican in the race seems to be a satisfactory alternative to the liberal Democrat. So why is Jack Davis in this race? Is it because the Republican, Jane Corwin, is too liberal? Surely not. Jack Davis has a résumé that would make almost any liberal Democrat very proud:

Jack Davis has been endorsed by ACORN's own NY political party, the Working Family Party. He is ardently pro-abortion and even supports partial birth abortions.

Davis' signature issue is a new tariff program that is advocated by Keynesian and far-left economist Paul Krugman. In short, it is another central planning scheme that makes Smoot-Hawley look like free-trade. He is opposed to any and all entitlement reform at the federal level. His campaign manager is a progressive consultant who called the Tea Party "a harbinger of midlife crisis."

While the Tea Party was protesting Obama's socialist agenda in 2009, Jack Davis was sending campaign donations to Democrats who voted in favor of Obama policies. One donation in particular was sent to Louise Slaughter one week after cap and trade passed. Louise Slaughter is one of the most liberal congresswomen in the House and was the Democrat leader who came up with the "deem and pass" rule for Obamacare.

This is Davis’ fourth attempt to win the 26th district. He ran in '04, '06 and '08 as a Democrat. When asked to square his old résumé with his new rhetoric, Davis stretches his credibility beyond the breaking point:

...Jack Davis told the media: “I’ve always believed in smaller government and less taxes.” What small government, less taxes principle was at play when he supported Barack Obama in 2008? Speaking of Obama and Democrats circa 2008, Jack Davis said he’d “do everything in (his) power to get them elected in November.”

As noted by Sam Foster, one of Jack Davis’ most influential supporters is Jim Ostrowski, a defeatist crank who wraps himself in a tea partyer's Gadsen flag, but hides behind an incoherent quasi-libertarian philosophy in his inexplicable guerrilla war against active political participation.

In an interview with World Net Daily, Jim Ostrowski reveals that he is a flaming kook:

...voting is like trying to stop a hurricane with your breath. The main function of voting is to give big government an excuse to push you around. The thugs always have the trump card as we hear constantly now: We won the election!

[emphasis added]

If you're tempted to give Ostrowski the benefit of the doubt, read on:

WND: Unlike Neal Boortz, a Republican in libertarian's clothing, you're clearly not a proponent of the political process. Before he joined the Fox News tea-party fest, the talk show host had pooh-poohed the tea protests, touting the political process instead. In a blog post, "Tea Parties – Give Me a Break," Boortz advocated "registering voters who actually produce and contribute to our society," rather than protesting. Why is politics a rigged charade?

OSTROWSKI: Well, I've been in the trenches for 35 years, since I was a kid. The game is rigged like a poker game where you are the sucker. They gerrymander districts. They use our tax money to buy votes and extract donations. So, even if you get a good candidate, you are outspent 10 to one and outmanned 10 to one since they use "off duty" government employees to campaign against you. I'm an election lawyer, so I know they try to knock you off the ballot or at least tie you up in court.

[emphasis added]

Ostrowski recommends his impotent 12-step program for remaining on the political sidelines in lieu of actively engaging in the political process at the polls and with the pocketbook. So perhaps it should be no surprise that this feckless crackpot is touting an entirely self-financed candidate who has no chance of winning.

Another reason for Ostrowski's support might be the money:

The Davis campaign paid Ostrowski $51,500 for legal work aimed at getting the independent candidate on the ballot.

And while Ostrowski has insisted that he stayed out of his coalition's endorsement process, that's not how it looks to [Levi] Russell, who said Davis "has paid tens of thousands of dollars to somebody to give him the endorsement."

Jim Ostrowski is, of course, free to run for the hills with his disciples, put on his tin foil hat, and keep an eye out for black helicopters. But voters in NY-26, including Ostrowski coalition of supporters, should make no mistake. Jack Davis is not conservative, he is not a libertarian, he is not in line with mainstream Tea Party values, and his most vocal proponent[s?] are nuts.

MORE

Tea party activists eager to disown Davis

Influential Rochester Radio Talk Show host Bob Lonsberry of WHAM unendorses Jack Davis

Hat tip to Sam Foster at Pajamas Media

X-posted

Eliminate The Elephant

We will eliminate Republican candidates one by one. Vote for the candidate you would LEAST like to run against Barack Obama. Names are in random order. We'll weed out candidates until the least contemptible candidate is the only one left:

Cheaters will be caught! Don't waste your time.

If you want to share this poll at your blog, leave a comment below. We'll run this poll for a few days and then queue up the next one.

New York Times Chart of the Day

Cain on top.

Coming from the NYT, this is taken with a grain of salt, but here's interesting analysis of the GOP race from Nate Silver. Go Cain!

UPDATE I: Robert Stacy McCain is intrigued.

UPDATE II: HUCKABEE IS OUT

UPDATE III: RSM... "I owe a hat-tip to RightKlik for his Twitter tip about the Nate Silver 538 chart showing that Herman Cain stands to benefit most from Huckabee’s 2012 no-go."

Thanks!

Discussion: Memeorandum, X-posted

You Cannot Free Yourself

Senator Rand Paul made a controversial statement this week, and I feel compelled to defend it. Please watch the following clip, then continue reading:

With regard to the idea of whether you have a right to health care, you have realize what that implies. It’s not an abstraction. I’m a physician. That means you have a right to come to my house and conscript me. It means you believe in slavery. It means that you’re going to enslave not only me, but the janitor at my hospital, the person who cleans my office, the assistants who work in my office, the nurses.

Unfortunately, too many people, including a few who should know better, have elected to oversimplify the implications of Senator Paul's statement.

Matt Welch at Reason, for example:

Could slaves free themselves by changing professions? Do doctors in Switzerland get taken away at gunpoint? To treat the analogy with technical seriousness, even setting aside (as if you could) the colossal weight of America's most lasting shame, is to render it ridiculous, in my opinion.

In my opinion, Matt Welch is working hard to miss the point.

First of all, let's discard the silly idea that slavery is a sacred topic. As noted by one commenter, "Slavery has existed for most of human history. It is not limited to the US. If you are offended by the use of the word, get over it. It is a valid English word, and not limited in scope to the antebellum South."

More importantly, let's disabuse ourselves of the notion that taxpaying physicians, by changing professions, can somehow free themselves from the involuntary servitude imposed by the redistribution schemes of health care entitlement programs.

Income taxes and payroll taxes are converted by government into all sorts of entitlement goodies, including health care. If you exercise the right to work for financial compensation, the state will infringe upon that right by confiscating the product of your time and effort to provide health care services for other citizens. This will happen whether you work as a physician or not. The arms of coercion are sometimes convoluted, but involuntary servitude in the health care industry is compulsory for everyone who is gainfully employed in the United States.

Let's also disabuse ourselves of the notion that hospitals and physicians can simply walk away from their explicit legal obligation to provide free care. Whatever ethical scruples a health care provider might or might not have (and regardless of whether patient is truly indigent) EMTALA laws force hospitals to provide free care to deadbeat patients, and the litigation risks associated with "patient abandonment" force doctors to provide care to those who will not pay.

I challenge Matt Welch to find a physician or hospital administrator who has managed to flout these laws without being "taken away at gunpoint."

If you listen carefully Senator Paul's comments, I think it will be pretty clear that he understands moral problems associated with entitlements are not confined to the health care industry:

Basically, once you imply a belief in a right to someone’s services — do you have a right to plumbing? Do you have a right to water? Do you have right to food? — you’re basically saying you believe in slavery.

I’m a physician in your community and you say you have a right to health care. You have a right to beat down my door with the police, escort me away and force me to take care of you? That’s ultimately what the right to free health care would be.

[emphasis added]

Again, let's not get bogged down by the fact that physicians and hospitals are usually paid for their services. Here's a good response to Welch's post from the comments at Reason:

[Rand Paul] said that the idea that you have a right to health care means you have the right to the work of doctors and nurses and hospital administrators and janitors and pharmaceutical manufacturers in exchange for nothing at all. Whether the government wants to lift the burden and have the middle/upper classes pay for it through taxes is a side issue. The question is "Do you, an individual, have a RIGHT to health care?" If your answer is yes, you are pro-slavery, and like everyone else who has ever been pro-slavery, you want to be the master.

Ultimately, entitlements are a zero sum game. Directly or indirectly, entitlement programs transform tax-paying citizens into bond-servants for the recipients of entitlement freebies. That's true whether the entitlement goodies come from the health care industry, the housing industry, the education industry, or any other industry.

Rand Paul is right. The "right" to free stuff makes slaves of the producers of said stuff.

I wouldn't try to prescribe an overnight solution to the moral hazards that have been created by entitlement programs, but a truly compassionate, fair and free society would be actively seeking remedies.

X-posted

Romney's Happy Prophecy: One Nation Under Mandates

With coercion and oppression for all...

Make no mistake about it, Mitt Romney looks forward to the day when every American is forced by government to make health care decisions at the point of a gun:

MR. RUSSERT: So if a state chose a mandate, it wouldn’t bother you?

MR. ROMNEY: I’d think it’s a terrific idea. I think you’re going to find when it’s all said and done, after all these states that are the laboratories of democracy, get their chance to try their own plans, but those who follow the path that we pursued will find it’s the best path, and we’ll end up with a nation that’s taken a mandate approach.

Think Mitt has changed his mind since making the statement above? Think again.

Mitt Romney is proud of the legacy of his health care mandate in Massachusetts, dire consequences notwithstanding.

UPDATE: Romney supported an individual health insurance mandate during the HillaryCare debate.

UPDATE II: The Wall Street Journal Delivers A Devastating Mitt Romney Takedown (via Business Insider)

Mr. Romney could push someone out of an airplane and blame the ground for killing him.

More

Mitt Romney: Proud of Massachusetts health care law

Massachusetts Doctors Not Seeing New Patients, Wait Times Lengthening

5 painful health-care lessons from Massachusetts

Mitt Romney: "No Apologies"

Romney Should Scrap Presidential Run to Avoid Ghost of Health Care Reform

X-posted

Show me the Money: John Boehner, "cut trillions," "Debt-ceiling hike without deep cuts would be ‘arrogant’"

Tea partiers are in no mood to be betrayed by
weak-knee'd RINOs like John Boehner

by the Left Coast Rebel

This just in from Politico:

Speaker John Boehner will call on Congress to offset a debt ceiling hike with spending cuts of a greater amount, an ambitious proposal that puts House Republicans on a collision course with Democrats who want much more modest spending restrictions attached to the vote.

“Without significant spending cuts and reforms to reduce our debt, there will be no debt limit increase,” Boehner plans to tell the Economic Club of New York here this evening, according to remarks obtained by POLITICO. “And the cuts should be greater than the accompanying increase in debt authority the president is given. We should be talking about cuts of trillions, not just billions.”

And The Hill:

In an economic address in New York on Monday evening, the Speaker will lay down a significant new marker in the negotiations to raise the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt limit and avoid a first-ever default by the federal government.

“It’s true that allowing America to default would be irresponsible,” Boehner will tell the Economic Club of New York, according to excerpts provided by his office. “But it would be more irresponsible to raise the debt ceiling without simultaneously taking dramatic steps to reduce spending and reform the budget process. To increase the debt limit without simultaneously addressing the drivers of our debt — in defiance of the will of our people — would be monumentally arrogant and massively irresponsible.”

I will be the first to commend Boehner if he steps up to the plate and fulfills the mandate of the tea party that put him where he is and gets serious reform put in place in exchange for a debt ceiling hike.

Unfortunately, given his performance during the "budget battle" recently wherein he folded like a cheap 20-dollar suit, despite one of the most historic mandates in history, I am more than skeptical and highly doubt that he is up to the task.

If he doesn't perform during the debt ceiling showdown, the GOP is toast and will be thrown into the dustbin of history, as it should be.

And a viable fiscally conservative third party will emerge that tea-partiers, libertarians, independents and true conservatives can support.

I'm not alone, Gallup data confirms that a third party in America is a distinct possibility, as it has been for some time:

PRINCETON, NJ -- Fifty-two percent of Americans believe the Republican and Democratic parties do such a poor job of representing the people that a third party is needed. Forty percent believe they do an adequate job. The percentage calling for a third party is down from August, when it tied its high of 58%.

Via Memeorandum, cross posted to LCR.

Herman Cain is Volcanic!

Google Bomb! Herman Cain is so hot, he's volcanic!

A conservative candidate for President … #2 on Google Trends …amazing!

Learn more here.

Have you heard of Herman Cain?

If you haven't, it's time to get educated.

Hat tip to our favorite pleurisy survivor, Robert Stacy McCain ― here's reaction to the very first presidential debate ahead of the 2012 election...

Take-home points from last night's debate via John Hayward at Human Events:

The great truth that every Republican presidential candidate must accept is that tonight – and every night, until November 2012 – they dine in hell. They will do battle with an incumbent who presents his re-election as a moral imperative, supported by a media culture of suicidal liberalism that does not want to be told America can no longer afford its appetites. They must relish uneven playing fields, nervous voters, and the difficult process of fusing emotion and reason into inspiration.

The ideal candidate must understand that America’s greatest days lie ahead of her… on the far side of the most perilous hours she has faced in a century. They are battling for executive power over a system that will fight like mad to defeat them, and die of complications from its victory. They will represent an electorate that is tired of apologizing for capitalism to people who want to kill it.

Herman Cain seemed to fit that description best on Thursday night. He’ll face some different opponents in his next debate. The smart ones will watch the tapes from South Carolina, and be ready for him.

Other Reactions:

• CBS: "Herman Cain makes splash at first 2012 GOP debate"
• Larry Kudlow tweets: "Herman Cain wins GOP debate in S.Carolina hands down... Problem-solver."
• Gateway Pundit: "Herman Cain Is BIG WINNER at First GOP Debate"
• John Hayward: "...the most commanding orator of the group," "supreme confidence"
• Lucianne: "Frank Luntz was blown away about the overwhelming support Mr. Cain received after the debate."
• Jill Victoria: "Wow! So proud and impressed that Herman Cain is trending worldwide!"
• Erick Erickson: "...Cain dominated. He went from being unknown to a household name."

Sam Foster called it early.

X-posted

UPDATE: Google Bomb... Herman Cain is so hot, he's volcanic!

Discussion at Memeorandum

Obama at Ground Zero: Victory Lap or Osama Memorial?

Via

Admittedly a provocative headline, but during his trip to NYC today, how many times will Obama superfluously assure Muslims that we are not at with them? How many times will Obama note that America is no better or more important than any other place but insist that we hold ourselves to unprecedented levels of high-minded restraint in the wake of Osama's long-awaited death?

Will Obama mark the occasion at Ground Zero with support for the Ground Zero Mosque/Osama bin Laden Islamic Memorial Center?

What do you think?

On Obama's New York City schedule today:

• Barack Obama is scheduled to arrive at Kennedy Airport on Air Force One at 10:40 a.m.
• He will then head to Manhattan to meet with members of the city's police and fire departments as well as Port Authority police.
• Obama will travel to Ground Zero for a wreath-laying ceremony starting at 1:25 p.m.
• Afterwards, he will have a private meeting at the Sept. 11 Memorial Museum with 50 9/11 victims' families selected by the White House.
• Obama will leave New York at 3:10 p.m.

UPDATE: Obama decides not to give speech at Ground Zero

UPDATE II: Obama visits Ground Zero. He looked around and said, you know what would look good here? A mosque… (Surber, via McCain)