Someone else remembers ...

... that Michelle Malkin was, once upon a time, the up-and-coming American libertarian editorialist. Back in the late 90s -- right up until 9/11, as a matter of fact -- I awaited her columns eagerly and routinely popped them into Free-Market.Net's database for linking in Freedom News Daily.

Over and over again, I find myself coming back to the question of what brought about her transformation (at damn near light speed) into the bedwetting collectivist termagant demagogue she is today. Did 9/11 trigger a full-on mental collapse? Or did she just cynically (and correctly) calculate that there was more money to be made whoring out as a Bushevik propagandist than telling the truth?

Crying shame either way, and I guess it's six of one and half a dozen of the other, but I'd really like to know.

Weezermania!

It's impossible to be unhappy while playing the banjo or listening to Weezer. "Raditude" is out! Unfortunately, I didn't think about posting this until the sale was over. Yesterday, it went for $3.99 as an MP3 download (with no funky DRM BS) at Amazon. Now it's back up to $8.99 ... and well worth it (click here or on the cover pic to send a commission my way).

Other options, available via the band's official site, include an iTunes edition with buttloads of extra stuff or CD editions with bonus Snuggies.

Yes, Snuggies. Here's Weezer performing "I'm Your Daddy" on Letterman, wearing the things. If this vid gets yanked, I'll find something to replace it with.



Addenda: You may notice that Weezer, usually a four-piece, seems to have sprouted a new member. That's Josh Freese, late of Devo, Nine Inch Nails and Guns'n'Roses, on drums. Regular Weezer stickman Pat Wilson has moved up front to guitar, at least on tour, the logic being that this will give Rivers Cuomo more body freedom on stage.

Also, one of the stage extras in the video is wearing a "Ted Williams" label. Hadn't thought about Ted Williams in a long time. When he retired, he ranked 3rd, behind Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx, in career home runs ... despite taking two mid-career leaves from baseball to serve as a Navy fighter pilot in World War II and Korea. To this day, he holds the highest career batting average in the "live-ball" era. They don't make'em like they used to.

A study in contrast

CAMERA ONE

October 9th, 2009:

Sarah Palin stands ready to stump for the Republican gubernatorial candidates running in the two most closely watched campaigns in the country this fall, but neither seems to want her help. ... "The governor offered her assistance with both races," said Palin adviser Meg Stapleton. "The ball is in their court." Neither GOP campaign wanted to discuss why they didn’t want Palin in the state ...

November 4th, 2009:

Republicans swept governors' races in New Jersey and Virginia on Tuesday, giving the GOP bragging rights by winning two key states that Barack Obama carried a year ago. ... The easy victory by Bob McDonnell in swing-state Virginia and the closer win by Chris Christie in Democratic-leaning New Jersey were a tonic for Republicans after stinging setbacks in 2008 and 2006.

CAMERA TWO

October 22nd, 2009:

Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin on Thursday endorsed Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman over Dede Scozzafava, the Republican Party's choice, in the special election for New York’s 23rd congressional district.

November 4th, 2009:

Democrat ends 150-year Republican reign with victory over Conservative: The second special election in the Tri-Lakes area in less than a year has produced the first Democrat to represent a vast swath of northern New York since before the Civil War.

And that furious scribbling sound you hear in the background? That's just Democrats writing checks ... to SarahPAC.

The terrorists have won

Per the St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners ...

ST. LOUIS COUNTY-PROPOSITION N
**PROHIBITION OF SMOKING**
(Vote for ) 1
(WITH 479 OF 480 PRECINCTS COUNTED 99.79%)
YES . . . . . . . . . . . . 89,405 65.39
NO. . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,313 34.61

Over to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ...

The vote means that smoke-free legislation approved by St. Louis aldermen — which was contingent on a similar proposal passing in the county — will also become law.

And back to the Election Board ...

KIRKWOOD-PROPOSITION 1
**PROHIBITION OF SMOKING**
(Vote for ) 1
(WITH 15 OF 15 PRECINCTS COUNTED)
YES . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,628 65.24
NO. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,466 34.76

Just this one time, I find myself moved to quote George W. Bush: "We'll smoke'em out."

[Note: This post has been edited -- something I don't usually do except for fixing spelling errors, issuing clearly marked updateds, etc. one. It originally appeared with photos of 9/11 carnage next to each bullet point. The sentiment is correct (like al Qaeda, the supporters of smoking bans are backward superstitionists who impose their medieval moral preferences on others through terror and violence), but ... just too over the top - KN@PPSTER]

Scozzafava explains

In the Syracuse Post-Standard ...

The biggest sting, [Republican congressional candidate Dierdre Scozzafava] said, came Thursday when former Gov. George Pataki showed up in the district to campaign for [Conservative Party nominee Doug] Hoffman. Pataki had not told Scozzafava, who had organized rallies for his re-election campaigns, that he switched.

“I thought he was a Republican,” she said.

Some people (ahem) -- including, weirdly, Larry friggin' Kudlow -- don't seem to be able to get it through their thick skulls that Doug Hoffman is not the Republican candidate for Congress in New York's 23rd district. Dierdre Scozzafava is.

Or, rather, was. She dropped out. Contra Hoffman's supporters, he didn't magically become the Republican candidate when she did so, and that won't change no matter how loudly Hoffman's NERIN (Not Even Republicans In Name) supporters stomp their feet and yell "RINO" (Republican In Name Only) in Scozzafava's direction.

Jebus ... why do I have to explain simple stuff like this?