POWIP Piece of Work In Progress

Have a DC Donner Party!

Jim Treacher will tell you how!

Meanwhile, it appears that Teri Hatcher has recovered enough from her stripping injury to frolic in the surf in a bikini.

I publish this photo merely in hopes that Treacher will find in it inspiration.

I hope it doesn't hurt to laugh.

Dan Collins

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

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Astroturf Meltdown Linked To Global Warming

Mountainous coffers dislimn, leaving slush:

"This movement is a fad," proclaims TheTeaPartyIsOver.org, which was established by the American Public Policy Center (APPC), a D.C.-based campaign shop that few people have ever heard of.

But a close look reveals the APPC's place in a complex network of money flowing from the mountainous coffers of the country's biggest labor unions into political slush funds for Democratic activists.

Here's how it works: What appears like a local groundswell is in fact the creation of two men -- Craig Varoga and George Rakis, Democratic Party strategists who have set up a number of so-called 527 groups, the non-profit election organizations that hammer on contentious issues (think Swift Boats, for example).

Varoga and Rakis keep a central mailing address in Washington, pulling in soft money contributions from unions and other well-padded sources to engage in what amounts to a legal laundering system. The money -- tens of millions of dollars -- gets circulated around to different states by the 527s, which pay for TV ads, Internet campaigns and lobbyist salaries, all while keeping the hands of the unions clean -- for the most part.

Dan Collins

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

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Minor TV Celebrity and Murder

Jamal Trulove was found guilty of murder in a California courtroom yesterday. The witness who fingered him for the crime recognized him as the shooter when she saw him on a VH1 program called "I Love New York 2."

Ryan Jenkins, you'll recall, was a contestant on The Bachelor Megan Wants a Millionaire. He hanged himself after murdering his wife, severing her fingers and pulling her teeth, and stuffing her body into a suitcase, found in a dumpster. Famously, she was identified by the serial numbers on her breast implants. He'd fled to Canada and cops were closing in.

Then there's this guy. At least this guy didn't commit murder, as far as we know. If I felt like it, I could probably dredge up other examples. Feel free to add them in comments.

It's gotten to the point where I am beginning to have induced childhood memories of Ted Bundy asking chicks on stools behind a screen various questions: "Bachelorette Number 2, how do you feel about a little love bite?"

It could be that deviancy and malignant narcissism seek out the limelight, simple as that. Maybe you're not vibrant and quirky enough for a producer unless you're psychotic. Maybe there have always been murderers on TV, but the volume of "reality" programming is serving us up more of them. It could be that people who objectify themselves to productiize themselves in some strange representation that gets tagged 'reality' find it easier to do so to other people. It could be that the high of receiving that kind of attention is like steroidal crack.

I don't know, but ladies, if the dude tells you he's been on a reality-TV show, get the hell out of there.

Dan Collins

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

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Regarding the EPA’s Power Grab, and MoveOn.org

Although a strong case can be made that the endangerment finding is scientifically flawed, that is not what Sen. Murkowski’s resolution is about. Contrary to misrepresentation by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and others, the resolution is not a referendum on climate science. It is a referendum on whether bureaucrats with a vested interest in expanding their power should make climate policy. The resolution would veto the regulatory force and legal effect of the endangerment finding — not its scientific reasoning or conclusions. Indeed, Sen. Murkowski is not a global warming skeptic, nor is she opposed in principle to greenhouse gas regulation. She simply believes that climate policy is too important to be made by a bureaucracy with no accountability to the American people.

The Murkowski resolution would not change one word of the Clean Air Act. It would not alter any program that EPA administers under the Act. It would not reduce funding for any EPA program. It would, however, avert an era of unaccountable regulation. It’s this defense of democracy that Moveon.org vilifies.

Yes, it's all about the Constitution, and government intrusion, generally; and, yes, it's true that Progressives regard all that rigamarole as an impediment to enlightened rule. They would like nothing better than to see governmental powers handed over to a bunch of unaccountable yobs in suits, as is done in the "Euro-Zone."

They don't care whether their arrogated power is based on lies, as long as they have it, and the mechanisms to make it real by force. Fortunately, the Southeastern Legal Foundation is taking them to court.

Todd Stern, a Clintonite who recently did a stint with Podesta's Center for American Progress, has been appointed as Climate Envoy to the UN, where he's attempting to rescue the settledness of climate "science." I have no doubt that he's a skilled jurist and apparatchik.

Dan Collins

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

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Byron York Catches Brennan Walking Back a Lie

Specifically, that the administration had conferred with Republican lawmakers over their handling of Abdulmutallab. It appears, though, that now that Obama's in office, criticizing the White House aids al-Qaeda. It seems, for example, that opposing the policy of making the Taliban a party to power sharing in Afghanistan aids al-Qaeda. I realize that this is counter-intuitive, but there you are.

Dan Collins

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

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Man Pulled Alive from Haitian Rubble After 27 Days

Credits a stranger with bringing him food and drink. Here's the WSJ's article about The Third Man, the companion who isn't there.

"There are more things in heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, Horatio."

That which we regard as adventitious is often more integral than we think. Maybe I'll have to go back and reread Julian Jaynes. More of a Walter Ong fan, but still.

Dan Collins

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

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Congressional Black Caucus Make Booty Call

What the hell are "programs tailored specifically to African-Americans"?

I have to say I've been pleasantly surprised by The Daily Caller. Very cheeky. Doesn't suck. I think the layout could be improved, but that's a minor point.

Dan Collins

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

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Wrong Reagan

If you're in the mood for more sneering liberal contumely directed at Sarah Palin, you could hardly do better than to check out Pam Geller's appearance on Joy Behar's show, talking about Palin's crib notes. Ron Reagan, Jr. keeps on repeating the mantra, "my father," while projecting the worst of liberal condescension. Let's just say that he entirely lacks the common touch that was one of the most endearing traits of Sr.

The Younger's only point is that Palin is an empty-headed poseur. Yes, it's true that that's exactly how liberals represented his dad---the empty-suited actor with the jelly beans---but the difference is that, as everybody knows, that was a false representation. That many of the same people who levelled the accusation that Reagan was an intellectual lightweight are now levelling the same accusations against Palin makes no difference. He is as certain as those people were (though they are willing to admit that they were wrong now, although it doesn't impeach their judgment), just as John Cole was certain that his former beliefs were correct, and just as certain that they are correct now. Humility is not easily learned by the self-worshipful.

It's true that Palin disparaged Obama's reliance on TOTUS, referring to a "telegenic guy with a TelePrompTer" in her speech at the Tea Party Convention. It's also true that Reagan often used the device. Nobody these days seems to refer to Obama as a Great Communicator, though. There's a considerable difference, I think, between several cribbed prompts written on one's hand, and entire speeches recited off of an electronic screen. We've seen on several occasions to our embarrassment what happens when Obama's elocutionary crutch fails him, and it reminds me a little of Max Headroom. Certainly Reagan was learned in the Founding Fathers' writings (Lincoln wasn't one, Mika) and in American history generally; can one truly say that of Obama? Is it likely that Obama's letters to all and sundry will find their way into a considerable tome after he's gone? Reagan had the habit of writing. It clarifies thoughts, it makes one regard one's audiences. Would Reagan have gone on about a nameless woman who wished to be buried (even though cremated) in one of his t-shirts (the one who, contrary to the narrative, did after all have health insurance, though it had a very high deductible)? I don't think so. He had none of Obama's tone deafness (the ears, they mock!). Liberals (mirabile dictu!) now compare Obama's use of the device to Reagan's, conveniently forgetting how they abused the latter.

Reagan wanted to get government off of our backs. He was a master at going over the heads of intermediaries to speak directly to the American people to make his points. We liked that, because it assumed our intelligence. The contrast with the way health care reform has been conducted could not be more striking. We are told that we are too dense to understand the provisions of mooted health care reform policy, much less how the whole thing would operate in the aggregate. We are told that there's no point in questioning whether even our Congresscritters have read it: it's so complicated that we'd, they'd merely come away confused---better to rely on the talking points. Any program that's so complicated that it's incomprehensible perhaps should not be enacted.

Reagan famously said that it wasn't that liberals don't know anything, it's that they know so many things that just aren't so. Included among those things is the conceit that they're smarter. Joy Behar? Katie Couric? I don't think so.

UPDATE: "Funny man" Stephen Colbert acts retardedly, calls Palin a "f*cking retard."

RELATED: Le faux, mais vrai

VERY STRONGLY RELATED would be David Thompson's observation:

A leftwing professor of philosophy tells us why the humanities tilt so heavily to the left. He says a bit more than perhaps he intended:

“It is because we liberal-arts professors... have carefully studied the actual dynamics of history and culture; and we have trained ourselves to think in complex, nuanced, and productive ways about the human condition that so many of us are liberals... Most of those in the liberal arts have concluded that there really isn’t any other intellectually respectable way to interpret the broad contours of history and culture. They are liberal, in other words, by deliberate and reasoned choice, based upon the best available evidence.”

In short, if you haven’t reached a similarly leftwing conclusion, you haven’t achieved sufficient complexity and nuance in your thinking, you peasant.

Dan Collins

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

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The Zima of Obama

One of the most frustrating aspects of President Obeyme is his inability to accept that some (some would say many) of his beliefs, political and otherwise, just do not have the popular appeal he insists they inherently do... or must, as a matter of course. I am reminded of some of the music I have been exposed to in my lifetime. Or of products which have been introduced that fall flat and ultimately fail to flourish in the marketplace. I won't mention any bands by name, but I will mention Zima - the half beer, half-lemonade concoction marketed in the 90s. In the case of horrible bands and terrible beverages, it is true that marketplace influence makes all the difference. That is to say, a company committed to its awful product can keep it front and center despite the product's inherent awfulness as long as said company has a tranche of goodwill/capital to spend and a willingness to continue dipping into it. But ultimately, thankfully, unappealing bands and brands (is there a difference?) go away. Or, in the very least, recede to some distant sliver of a market segment - and we are spared... until some force of marketing genius attempts once more to accost and overwhelm our sensibilities.

Now, it seems to me that Obeyme is to a very large extent in the business of hoisting questionable products onto the shelves of our political quick-mart. If the vision of the POTUS as product marketing manager doesn't work for you, you may liken him to a tone-deaf record executive.

Some products suck. Zima sucks. It sucked from the first. And while there are some who might appreciate it, by and large we can agree it sucked. And it ultimately failed. On an epic scale. And this sad sack of a product was brought to us by Coors Brewing Company (now MillerCoors). Granted, neither Coors or Miller do it for me - but having said that, while I might prefer Guinness, I do not loathe Miller Lite... If I was in the mood for beer - or "beer" - and you only had a Coors to offer, I would drink it. Zima, on the other hand? Not so much. One product has some merit - while the other has nary a redeemable quality... other than maybe as fodder for late night jokes.

And so, in the marketplace we find that we have products that are "mainstream" - they are marginally good enough to survive. And they survive because they are decidely not avant garde. Instead, their mass appeal comes not so much because they are exemplary, but precisely because they are imperfectly bland. And if not bland, they are at least not overwhelmingly offensive to the senses.

What Zima is not is beer. It is not beer. It has beer as one of its constituent parts, to be sure... or, so we are led to believe... but alas it is not beer. And I am sure Zima makes some sense in some alternate universe... or, maybe it makes sense in Japan. But it does not make sense here in the US. It just does not, could not, would not, and did not "make it" in the marketplace. Surely there are some who loved it... And I bet early consumption proceeds when it was first introduced were substantial. Substantial enough to give the genius product managers who championed the idea of it hope that their instincts were right... I can hear them now: "People love beer. People love lemonade... Zima! What's not to like?" But Zima is decidedly NOT "two great tastes that taste great together". In the end, many years, heartbreaks, and dollars later, Zima died as it was destined to do. That is, it failed. And it failed precisely because despite the marketing efforts and deep pockets committed, Zima sucks. Being neither beer, nor lemonade - it is, alas something entirely different. And something we, as a people, have overwhelmingly rejected.

As messed up as the Iranians may be... and they are mighty messed up to my mind... should we be stunned if they too find Zima offensive and unworthy? Or, should we be more surprised if, after failing to prove out in our own marketplace, Zima takes root in Iran where it becomes the mother's milk of the Iranian Revolution?

I am not shocked that Zima is neither working at home or abroad. Because Zima may have seemed like a good idea. And it may have even seemed like a reasonable idea. Indeed, one might even say that Zima was somewhat refreshing upon that virgin sip. And if not refreshing, it was if nothing else different. And I guess different is okay in small doses. And I can see why it had appeal at first glance... it was well-packaged - shiny, crystal clear in appearance. And it tested well, I am sure. Chicks seemed especially intoxicated by the idea of it. And dudes bought it primarily because chicks seemed especially intoxicated by it. But even avid consumers eventually outgrow questionable products. Or, more practically, they grow older, get married, have some kids - all very sobering experiences. And when they do, no amount of money... no tranche of goodwill is deep enough to keep a shitty product on the shelf.

Enoch_Root

AKA. Bobby Donn Brubaker (the most popular man in Mesa, AZ), the Umbrella of Terror, Jack Ketch.

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