The Lady in Red

It's perhaps the most mind-blowing quote I've seen in quite some time. This entire episode comes to us courtesy of lookingattheleft.com.

As background, this little adventure took place earlier in the week in Denver as local unions stormed the streets in solidarity of their brothers & sisters in Wisconsin. Our friend in red got in the face of Black Republican Leland Robinson:

Next, this lady in red rudely got in Robinson’s face.
Lady in red: “I asked you a question: Do you have any children? That you claim, that you claim.”
Robinson: “Do I need children to understand what’s going on?”
Lady in red: “You need children to understand education.”
Robinson: “No I don’t.”
Bystander: “What did you mean when you said does he have any children that he claims?”
Lady in red: “Because he’s such a free spirit and an entrepreneur, I would assume that he’s not supporting children. …
(To Robinson:) You are a big-mouth take-care-of-yourself man. You don’t care about anyone.”
At this point, police interceded. Seeing a lone black man being shouted at by union goons, they decided it was better that he joined the tea party protest at the bottom of the stairs, where he would be safe.

Nothing to see here beyond some average, run-of-the-mill Union ridiculousness, right? And where's this mind-blowing quote? Well, for that we need actually to back up a bit:

At this point, an aggressive woman with a purple SEIU shirt assailed Robinson with a flurry of insults.

“That’s your problem. You’re an entrepreneur, so you don’t work. You don’t know what work is until you get into an educational area. … You’re uneducated, unethical, immoral, and you don’t know what life is. That’s your problem. Why don’t you go behind that fence where you belong? Why don’t you go back with your own kind?” She said this indicating towards the bottom of the Capitol Steps, where a couple of hundred tea partiers were gathered listening to speeches.

You're an entrepreneur, so you don't work. Unfortunately there is no picture of this sage, the speaker of truth about all-things entrepreneurial. A shame; I've always wanted to see what exactly the face of stupidity looks like.

Not Sunk in Yet?

Maybe it hasn't. From earlier today

In a private meeting in the Capitol just now, a dozen or more House liberals bluntly told Nancy Pelosi that there was no chance that they would vote to pass the Senate bill in its current form — making it all but certain that House Dems won’t opt for this approach, a top House liberal tells me.

We cannot support the Senate bill — period,” is the message that liberals delivered to the Speaker, Dem Rep Raul Grijalva told me in an interview just now.

Some had hoped Pelosi would push liberals to get in line behind this approach, in hopes of expediting reform, but that didn’t appear to happen in this meeting. Pelosi mostly listened, Grijalva said, adding: “We didn’t get any declarative statement from her.”

The meeting, which was polite but blunt in tone, underscores the degree to which Dems are scrambling to figure out a way forward on health care in the wake of last night’s loss. The unwillingness of liberals, and some in labor, to support passing the Senate bill means House Dem leaders need to find another way forward — fast — and leadership aides are scouring procedural rules as we speak.

What part of losing the safest Senate seat in the Country don't they get?

Clownshow

Doug at DownwithTyranny! made an ass of himself yesterday with as dubious a prediction as I can recall in some time: Doug Goes Out On A Limb-- Predicts Coakley By 10 Points Tomorrow.

I wanted to post about it yesterday but I thought better of it. But today, Doug is getting his just rewards. Folks in the comments are letting him hear about it, some not so kindly; humorously but not kindly.

It's like he set himself up:

This is a good test of my thinking. Am I looking at politics and thinking about this election rationally, or am I just being an optimist, hoping that voters are still sensible people who won’t elect candidates from the Beavis and Batshit wing of the Republican Party? Okay, I’m going to take a deep breath, and say this: Coakley wins by 10%. The third party candidate gets 3%. Massachusetts is a Democratic state.


Really, no one who works in politics can predict an individual election with any degree of confidence, not an election where both candidates have wide recognition and have run credible campaigns, meaning they’ve reached most voters several times. I base this on a simple premise: anyone who actually could consistently predict these elections would be making their living betting on them, would be rich, and we wouldn’t be hearing from them on websites or on the news.

You can only know what usually happens, what is most likely to be true, what would be a practically unprecedented result. Don’t go searching through the evidence for secret portents or unique local factors. If you do, you’ll be a very smart person who ends up saying some very silly things.

UPDATE: It'll make his head explode but watching Frank Luntz's focus group might provide some insight for Doug on how he could be so magnificently wrong.

Racist Vote Records

Apparently voting records are now racist:

First, Reid’s allies plan to distribute the NAACP vote ratings of Republican senators who have scolded him. The data will be made available to editorial boards, cable programs and the blogosphere — including votes on minimum wage, community-oriented policing, education funding and HIV/AIDS programs. 

Separately, the Congressional Black Caucus plans to issue a new statement Monday, defending Reid and brushing back Republicans. 

“Senator Reid’s record provides a stark contrast to actions of Republicans to block legislation that would benefit poor and minority communities — most recently reflected in Republican opposition to the health bill now under consideration,” CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said. “I look forward to Senator Reid continuing to serve as Majority Leader to guide this important agenda through the Senate.”

Like Glenn said...Meh.

Name that Protest

 

9/12 Tea Party or 9/24 G20 Meeting

Hi Jon!

Come back & visit!

Stuff It!

The House voted earlier in the day to rebuke Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) for his outburst during President Obama's speech last week:

The rare resolution of disapproval was pushed through by Democrats insisting that Wilson, a South Carolina lawmaker, had violated basic rules of decorum and civility in his outburst.

It's that last phrase that frys me. As noted earlier, the Left wouldn't know civility if it jumped up and bit them in the collective ass.

The Other Shoe

At least some in the House are willing to pick up where the Senate left off yesterday:

Today House Republicans will introduce a bill that would end all federal funding to ACORN and its affiliates. Republicans are also sending a letter to President Obama on the same subject.

The action comes after the release, on the website BigGovernment, of three undercover videos showing ACORN employees in Baltimore, Washington DC, and New York City offering advice on how to evade taxes, cover up prostitution activity, and abet the use of minors in prostitution. In the wake of those disclosures, the U.S. Census cut its ties with ACORN, and yesterday the Senate voted 83-7 to cut off housing funds for the organization.

House Republicans point out that they have long pushed for a cutoff in government funding for ACORN.

The Logical Next Step

After a week that would make Badluck Schleprock wince, the US Senate has voted today to defund ACORN:

The Senate voted Monday to block the Housing and Urban Development Department from giving grants to ACORN, a community organization under fire in several voter-registration fraud cases.

The 83-7 vote would deny housing and community grant funding to ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

The action came as the group is suffering from bad publicity after a duo of conservative activists posing as a prostitute and her pimp released hidden-camera videos in which ACORN employees in Baltimore gave advice on house-buying and how to account on tax forms for the woman's income. Two other videos, aired frequently on media outlets such as the Fox News Channel, depict similar situations in ACORN offices in Brooklyn and Washington, D.C.

What next? Well, far as I'm concerned the AG or a state Attorney General or two ought to rain down fire on these crooks and put them out of business.

The Decorum Debate

Instapundit rounds up some of the discussion about Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst during the President's speech last night. He's basically right...

UNION TRIBUNE: Sure, he was a rude jerk. But Rep. Joe Wilson has a point. “The president is right that his proposal specifically says the plan does not extend to illegal immigrants. But one of the most undercovered stories in national politics is the fact that congressional Democrats have gutted the plan’s enforcement provisions.”

I’m finding it hard to get excited about this. It was a breach of decorum and civility. But someone who says “get in their face” and “punch back twice as hard” has little standing to bring that up. If you want to benefit from traditions of civility, you should respect them, and that has hardly been a hallmark of this administration, which has gone out of its way to try to demonize and shout down opponents.

UPDATE: Video Flashback: Dems Shout And Boo At Bush During 2005 SOTU. Goose, meet gander.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Video: Obama supporters boo Bush at inauguration. Like I said, you can’t stand on decorum when you’ve acted without it.

Or maybe we’re seeing the beginnings of British-style parliamentary debate in Congress!
MORE: Reader James Somers writes:

Glenn, it might also be noted that a lot of Democrats and MSM journalists (same thing, I know) who suddenly have the vapors over Joe Wilson’s breach of decorum thought it was just dandy when an Iraqi journalist threw shoes at President Bush. Sure, the journalist wasn’t a Congressman; and sure, a press conference isn’t the same as the SOTU. But that journalist became a folk hero to a lot of folks on the Angry Left – I think you actually could become a Fan of his on Facebook. The point is that lefties loved Sticking It To The Man when Chimpy McHitler was president, but now they’re prissily toting around copies of Robert’s Rules of Order.

Indeed. Sticking It To The Man is supposed to be their sole prerogative.

STILL MORE: Bill Quick: Remember When Harry Reid Called Bush a Liar?

Two Dummies don't make an Argument

Two of the not-so-smartest guys in the lefty blogosphere tell us all about why Obamacare is such a good deal. Or not really.

TM has the details and does a far better job of ripping our esteemed know-it-alls then I could ever hope. First, from Kevin Drum:

Let's recap: the United States spends about twice as much on healthcare as any other developed nation in the world and in return receives just about the worst care. Can someone remind me again why there's even a debate about whether we should put up with this?

Brilliant...

Once you've recovered from the magnificence of that non-argument, we go to the guy who replaced Kevin over at Washington Monthly, one Steve Benen:

They've pulled it off, so far, by telling almost comically-ridiculous lies, and managing to get scared, gullible people to believe them. It's no small feat. Indeed, it's almost impressive. Conservatives have managed to create a debate out of nothing but partisanship, paranoia, and greed.

And here's where I give you over to TM and his sharp-knives:

Really? If memory, that unfaithful servant, can be relied upon the Dem leadership has yet to put forth a plan costing less than a trillion dollars over the next ten years. Medicare is projected to be racing towards bankruptcy (whatever that would mean for a government-funded program) and no one has suggested any credible means of controlling, let alone cutting, its costs.

And the Dem health care reform favored by the left is to spend even more money and envelop the rest of us in some sort of universal Medicare. I'm not sure it takes a conniving liar to wonder how that is going to save us money. "We're spending too much on health care and the answer is to spend even more!" - do Dems really think that will be a winning message?

It was just a Matter of Time

I almost asked this question the other day upon hearing of Robert Novak's death. Namely, how long before the vilification began. I'd just seen too many malicious comments from too many people about the man not to expect this kind of reaction.

But it was nice of NBC to make it official.

LOL of the Day

Lefty Angst is always entertaining.

My favorite part is hearing about how the 'regressives'--without a single lever of power anywhere on the national scene--are 'seeking to anihilate him [President Obama]' by 'murdering' the bill. The Good Professor seems to have forgotten that the Democrats own everything...they don't need a single Republican vote to pass anything.

If they could keep their own members in line, this bill would pass.

No she Won't

MKH insists (with tongue firmly in cheek I must think) that Madame Speaker will decry the nature of SEIU's attempt to 'Drown Out Voices' at an upcoming town-hall in Stamford, Connecticut.

I'm going with "Oh, hell no!"

Double-Standards Defined

Jake Tapper's tweet from yesterday nails it on the head:

Bemoaning lack of "civil dialogue,"Democracy for America's Jim Dean says "Teabaggers..don't want to pay taxes for schools, police, or roads"

Yes, out of one side of his mouth decrying the lack of civil dialogue while trashing the opponents out of the other side.

Poisonous.

To be Young and Naive

Oh, and stupid too:

An unruly Little Rock crowd heckled and shouted at two Arkansas Democratic congressmen Wednesday, accusing them of supporting a government-backed health plan that would take away Americans' personal choice and freedom.

At one point, U.S. Rep. Mike Ross sat with his head in his hands while the crowd shouted. He and fellow Democratic Rep. Vic Snyder told audience members at a forum at Arkansas Children's Hospital that they wouldn't support a completely government-run, single-payer health insurance plan.

No, not Ross or Snyder. I'll take their claims at face value, least for now when it comes to their stance on the proposed health-care plan trumpeted by the WH and being discussed in the House and Senate.

No, the stupidity I'm referring to is that of the young and inexperienced. From the end of the article:

Though much of the crowd opposed Obama's plan, there were a few supporters.

"I'm a huge Obama fan," college student Jacob Kauffman told the crowd, which responded with a smattering of applause and a few chants of "Get a job."

Kauffman continued, "I was at mad at (Ross and Snyder) for not standing up for stronger health care reform. But after seeing this crowd tonight, I'm pleased with seeing what you have done. I've rather have you two overlook my health care plan than any private insurance bureaucrat any day."

Ah, to be young and naive...and stupid. I've got somewhere around 20 years on you Jacob. Learn from your elders, the last thing you want is the Gubmint in charge of anything complex. For details, give me a buzz and I'll fill you in on my ongoing feud with California's EDD (Hint: If we ran our business as poorly as the state manages this high-profile agency we'd have been out of business even before we began).

The story doesn't mention where Jacob attends school. My guess is the State system somewhere. Regardless, if this is really what he thinks dude needs his money back; he's getting screwed.

How far into their Heads did He go?

Mark Steyn at The Corner notes this absurd bit of mental gymnastics from Jacob Weisberg.

It's all Bush's fault. Everything. Ever.

Yeah, that's the ticket...

Still fighting the Last War

Senate-style.

T-Boone Pickens visited with Senate Democrats yesterday to discuss energy. Apparently the visit was, for the most part, collegial and focused on the stated agenda--energy.

But then Pickens made the mistake of introducing himself to the nation's newest Senator:

According to a source, the wealthy oil and gas magnate and author of “The First Billion Is the Hardest” stepped up to introduce himself to Franken in a room just off the Senate Floor after the lunch ended.

Franken, who was seated talking to someone else, did not stand when Pickens said hello. Instead, Franken began to berate him about the billionaire’s financing of the Swift Boat ads in 2004.

According to a source, the confrontation grew heated.

Leave it to a guy like Franken to get fired up 5 years after-the-fact and lash out with all the usual charm & aplomb.

Lets play 'Who's the Rube!'

Today's winner: John Aravosis at AMERICAblog.

(HT: Instapundit)

As Glenn Reynolds keeps pointing out, President Obama's biggest fans during the campaign are slowly but surely coming to recognize the things us Troglodyte knuckle-draggers had figured out last summer.

As the good Law professor is fond of saying, "Heh."

Seeing through someone else's Eyes

The folks at PJTV give you the Left's version of Young Republicans. All that's missing are the Appletinis...