Archive for 2012

IS SPIKE LEE THE NEW BILL COSBY? “Your generation, they now equate intelligence with acting White and ignorance with acting Black, and they wear it like a badge of honor. They say, ‘I’m ghetto. I’m gangster.’ What they are is ignorant.”

POLITICO: Dems bash, bank secret cash.

Democrats have seized on a new attack line: Republicans as the party of unlimited secret money.

The only problem: so are the Democrats. n recent days, Obama released an ad blasting “secretive oil billionaires” for attacks on him, Nancy Pelosi unveiled a campaign slogan, calling for “a new politics free of special interest influence,” and the Democratic National Committee released a Web ad accusing Mitt Romney of lying about his ties to a super PAC that’s spent millions supporting him.

Maybe that would have sounded better in 2008, when Obama put the kibosh on the Democratic outside money infrastructure — or even in 2010, when Obama led a chorus of Democrats assailing Republicans’ outside spending.

But this year, Democrats are playing the same game. Obama’s team has blessed a network of super PACs trying to raise the same seven-figure checks as Romney’s. And Obama’s allies have gone even further than Romney’s, setting up nonprofit groups that do not disclose their donors at all.

In fact, top Democrats are so adament about the need to raise unlimited — and sometimes secret — cash this year that some operatives aren’t pleased about the recent attacks. It’s a whole lot tougher to get wealthy liberals to fork over mega-checks when the politicians who’d benefit are ripping Republicans for taking the same types of contributions.

Forked tongues.

BYRON YORK: In NASA-land, Romney, Gingrich battle over space. It’s nice to see people debating space policy. It’s odd to see Republicans picking one of the few areas where Obama has a pretty good approach in place already.

IN THE NASHVILLE TENNESSEAN TODAY, I argue against the latest proposal from Mayor Bloomberg’s anti-gun group.

I couldn’t resist adding this bit: “A recent study found that mayors belonging to Bloomberg’s group have been arrested at a much higher rate than Tennessee handgun-carry permit holders, for crimes ranging from perjury and embezzlement to child sexual assault. But there’s no background check for politicians.” Maybe there should be . . . .

MORE PRAISE FOR THE MAGIC ERASER: Reader Eugene Dillenburg writes: “Saw it at the store last week, after you had mentioned it. Thought I’d give it a try. Wow! Not only have cleaning the tub and shower never been easier, but it cut right through the build-up on the shower curtains. Once again, Instapundit has changed my life!”

Glad to help. And yeah, it’s nearly as cool as the Bar Keeper’s Friend.

UPDATE: Another reader emails: “The Magic Eraser cleans the creosote build-up on fireplace glass like a warm knife cuts through soft butter–it just melts it away! Haven’t tried it yet but wonder if it will work on the nasty pine-sap globs on my deck.”

A LOT OF BIG NAMES IN THE SPACE WORLD ENDORSE ROMNEY. Some of these people are my friends, and I don’t doubt their sincerity, but I am unpersuaded. In particular, I think their assault on Obama’s space policy — which is one of his few positives, in my opinion — is completely misguided.

CHANGE: Japan, Russia Build Ties As Asian Balance Shifts. “Estrangement between Russia and Japan has been something China could count on since 1945. The thaw in relations between energy rich Russia and technology rich Japan is no doubt ringing some alarm bells in Beijing where, lately, almost all of the geopolitical news has been bad. Chinese fears of hostile encirclement will be reaching fever pitch as the US, India and Japan deepen relations with Myanmar, Japan and Russia make nice, and the US moves to increase its presence in the Philippines and Singapore — on top of its earlier announced plans to station marines in Australia.”