POWIP Piece of Work In Progress

Jubilation and Stupidity

The right side of the sphere is all abuzz with this letter from a progg poli-sci prof at Hofstra.

We can agree, whatever our differences, that this uniquely inept administration has squandered more political goodwill for less reason than any other we can remember. But the moment that stands out for me as singularly demonstrative of this administration is the Game Change report of the jubilation that they expressed over the Porkulus. Any sane administration, even if it believed Keynesianism (and contradictory as that might seem) would have treated the responsibility with the kind of deep concern that anyone feels when entrusted with a singularly crucial assignment.

Not these guys. Instead of awe, it was awesome.

Clifton B. of ABC dilates.

Related: The Ace of Base chimes in. It's almost like they want him to fail.

Also related: Barney Frank now claims that he was against using Fannie and Freddie as a mechanism to boost home ownership. Wow.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Climategate and Charles Johnson

The Douche of URL claims that he came belatedly to the AGW camp because he read the evidence for the claims, for and against. There are three fundamental and not mutually exclusive explanations, here: 1) he's naive; 2) he's stupid; or 3) he's dishonest.* Frankly, I don't care which of the above he is, but if he really has read the evidence, it certainly puts the lie to his claims of rationalism.

*

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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NFL Conference Championship pick-ems

So it's the day of the conference championship games, and I must admit that all my dogs are out of the fight and on the porch with the rest of the losers making tee-times.  But, we can all still have a favorite, even if it is based on vengeful motivations.   I am aware that the two principle authors of POWIP are die-hard Packer fans, and as such may be hard pressed to favor the vikings in any fashion-regardless if, and maybe especially because, Favre is milking that duck.

Me?  Even though my rational mind knows that the Ravens deserved to lose to Indy, Peyton being his fantabulous self and the Ravens coughing the ball up enough times to statistically deserve the loss; I'm still rooting for the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets to prevail on the AFC side.  In the NFC, notwithstanding my respect and admiration for Dan and Enoch, I'll be sidin' with the Vikings for a variety of reasons; a few of which are Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin, and Jared Allen!

 Of course, those are just code words, to be sure, delivered with a wink-and-a-nod, since we know all true conservatives, being the knuckle-dragging, misogynistic, running-dog-capitalist, neo-confederate, hatey RAAAAAAAACISTS! , could never root for the team that is not only from a city predominantly populated by black folks, but that has also attracted such luminary hangers-on as Spike Lee and Brad Pitt.  Also, the Viking logo is a secret symbol are neo-confederate aryans everywhere, in case you hadn't heard...

So I'm on the Jets bandwagon, for the vendetta, and the Vikes bandwagon for, you know, fun and racism...

Who are you favoring?  And, what are your reasons (if any)?  All answers are welcome; even if it's because you bookie gave you great odds and a boatload of points!

So to all: Enjoy the games, and your well earned day of rest!

Rocketman

See Ya Laytah, Master Beta

Via Sissy Willis, comes news that male Republican bloggers are too Betazoid and a bunch of Eeyoracles.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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PelosiCare

"As Coroner, I must aver,
I thoroughly examined her:
And she's not only merely dead,
She's really most sincerely dead."

And a regal growl . . . woof!

Work for Geppetto . . . online! (as part of the Ellie Light Brigade)

Plouffenstuf!

Mobylizing the Netroots for Voodoo Jesus' Zombie Bank Sacrament of Reconciliation!

And on the Seventh Day, he went to Hawaii, for he was sore out-tuckered. And when he came back, he said, "Let there be jobs, and lo! WTF?"

UPDATE: Hey, thanks, memeorandum! And thanks to Sancho Panza, aka Lance Burri, for the linkup.

UPDATEx2: Still more opstroturfing. And Cass Sunstein comes to the UK.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Peggy Noonanny

I'm sorry, but this is hilarious. Peggy's on Twitter, with the handle @peggynoonannyc.

A journo feathering her nest
Has very little time to rest
As she gathers up opinions from her clique

While she's engaged in this pursuit
An Axelrod hirsute
Says, "No, you're wrong; you need to hum along!"

Just a spoonful of sugar helps
The radical go down
The radical go down
Radical go down
Just a spoonful of sugar helps
The radical go down
In the most delightful way!

Anyway, she's following Sissy and Terry Teachout, and they're a little nonplussed.

If you won't beat and flagellate us
We will never give you cause to hate us!
Hurry, Noony!
Many thanks, sincerely,
Greedy Bankers' Whelps

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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…and a good woman? Hmm.

And now here comes the "backlash" to the stories/convos I linked to yesterday.

From Newsweek: Nuh-uh, no problems here:

Are some women too picky? Sure. People are shallow, unkind, and judgmental. But I don't know any women who have checklists. If they do, I imagine it's something most grow out of. If you will only date someone who looks like Brad Pitt, "earns a gazillion dollars, and makes your knees go weak every time you're together," as Gottlieb writes, then you're probably either 20 or stupid. Most of us just want to love and be loved. The data show that when it comes to money and education, women are in fact lowering their standards. A Pew study released Jan. 19 found that in 1970, 4 percent of wives earned more than their husbands. In 2007, 22 percent did. The percentage of women who had more education than their husbands rose from 20 to 28.

Let me put you a little knowledge: the women who have priced themselves out of the marriage market with unreasonable checklists won't be married. Your stats have proved nothing.

I know, I know, logic is hard. But try to wrap your head around that.

By the way, the "unreasonable checklists" many women have set the hurdle much below the Brad Pitt level. People checklist out guys based on age, education level, profession, accent, hobbies, etc.

``What? He's a mechanic? But I have a B.A. in Self-Navel Studies from Pretentious Lib Arts College and can read such deep works as "Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity"! Oh, I suppose. If I can't get any other dates....''

...and then when said guy doesn't call back after one date, she claims that men are simply intimidated by her intelligence. Hmmm, sure that condescending to the guy and showing him no respect had nothing to do it?

Of course, it's not all women who are like this. Plenty of women do not have inflated ideas of what they're entitled to. But the type of women who write for the Newsweek or the NYTimes, or.. well, let's look at Lori Gottleib, who wrote the book on settling in marriage that inspired the Newsweek piece:

Lori is also a frequent commentator for NPR’s All Things Considered, and her radio features have aired on public radio’s This American Life, Weekend Edition, and Marketplace.

As a journalist and columnist, Lori has written for a variety of publications, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Time, People, The Atlantic, Elle, Glamour, Redbook, Self, Parents, Slate, and Salon.

The anecdote pulled out about Gottleib had to do with a guy who had an Ivy degree, that she dithered on whether to go out with -- because he had recently been divorced [that is not necessarily a bad reason to avoid a guy, rebounds suck], but also that he was from the Bronx and OMG! might have an accent and be all declasse. [And I see she is continuing the tradition of expanding a magazine article into an entire book. Nice work if you can get it.]

Yes, these are the women that need to be told that you're not going to be able to be super-picky about what your dealbreakers are. You really need to think of what's important -- you want someone who's dependable and trustworthy, for example. Those are good checklist items. That the guy has the proper pedigree [in terms of education, profession, accent, clothes] can be a very foolish requirement, especially if these pedigrees are in short supply and the supply of women acceptable to such men is much larger.

ADDED: Comments from Dr. Helen:

So our society has created a mess where men are vilified in the classroom, fed PC rhetoric, told their life's goal is to make women happy and do anything that assists her with her goals, while simultaneously told that he is a dope, idiot and unable to care properly for children, and now people are questioning where Mr. Right went?

MORE: Coverage of Gottleib's book by the Telegraph

Actually, a lot of the Austen "heros" sucked. Except Mr. Henry Tilney. Saucy, saucy Henry. =hot=

More seriously, Austen did talk about settling in her novels, and did not portray it as a necessarily bad thing. In Pride and Prejudice, Eliza's best friend Charlotte marries the execrable Mr. Collins, but Elizabeth eventually decides that it's a good match for her friend, who was basically an old maid. But then, there's Maria Bertram from Mansfield Park. Bad, bad news. Those who think the spinster Austen presents a fairy-tale view of marriage is way way off. I'll post on that another time, though I'm thinking that post won't be as popular as my recent ones.

Meep

Meep is a member of the Irish Catholic mafia, having a suspiciously high number of green-eyed, red-haired friends. While she doesn’t have red hair herself [except when she goes into the sun (rare for any vampire)], she does have green eyes. She’s a raving Papist and is a life actuary on the side [i.e., she counts dead people]. An amateur pain-in-the-ass [willing to go pro!], she likes covering retirement, mortality, math, and education issues.

Aw, and She Worked So Hard for that Title

D'oh!

Feinstein admits the voters “didn’t like the stimulus, they didn’t like the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program), they didn’t like the automobile bailout,” Feinstein said. “They’re worried. People are smart. They understand what’s happening in their lives and their neighbors’ lives, and they see it on a downhill trajectory.” We the voters were unhappy with these moves while she was promoting these programs and voting for them. Now that her political career is in mortal peril, the voters may have a legitimate concern over her and President Obama’s direction for assuming complete control over the economy and the country itself.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Oh, Noes! Teh Teabaggers Has Figgered Out teh Intarwebs!

Get Plouffe!

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Race Hero Holder’s DoJ Stonewalls on New Black Panther Case

And justice for all:

That decision was made while career lawyers in the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division were recommending that Justice seek sanctions in the case after they had won a default judgment in court. The lawyers were in the final stages of completing that work when they were told by their superiors to seek a delay, according to federal records and the interviews.

The delay was ordered by then-acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King after she discussed the case with Mr. Perrelli, according to the interviews. Ms. King, a career senior executive service official, had been named by President Obama to temporarily fill the vacant political position of assistant attorney general for civil rights while a permanent choice could be made.

The complaint was dropped against the New Black Panther Party and two of its members, while the department sought a separate restraining order against the one party member who wielded a nightstick at the Philadelphia polling place in the November 2008 incident.

Questions about the dismissal have since spread to Congress with 14 Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee asking last week that Attorney General Eric. H. Holder Jr. be called to explain it. Their request was defeated in a party-line 15-14 vote.

It's exactly this sort of corrupt, partisan crap that's causing Obama's favorability to sink like a stone.

In case you don't know them, these are the people Holder's protecting. And more stonewalling. And a little stupidly.

Actual heroism remembered.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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