The Durbin Backlash is Growing...

Courtesy of the blogosphere. Michelle Malkin has the ultimate round-up of action and reaction surrounding Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin's refusal to back down from his outrageous comments on the Senate floor.

Best quote is from Hugh Hewitt:

"If you don't 'get' this, you are really far removed from the country's center. It isn't a Democrat-Republican, left-right thing. It is an American-anti-American thing. Period."

Best audio reaction is from Sean Penn (click to hear).

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Durbin's comments reveal the sad truth about the moonbat Left...

BullDogPundit is dead on with his explanation of Sen. Dick Durbin's recent stupid comments about our troops:

George Will once defined a "political gaffe" as when a politician accidentally tells the truth. Well, in a way, Dick Durbin committed a "political gaffe" yesterday when he likened U.S. troops to Nazis then, when given the chance, refused to apologize.

Of course the "truth" here isn't that US troops are in any way like Nazis. Rather, Durbin spoke the truth about what he and the other anti-American loons that are the mainstream in his party feel about the US military. Time and time again we have heard Democrats complain more about the actions of the United States and its servicemen than they did about Saddam. We should thank Durbin for exposing this naked truth.

There is a certain faction of the Left that sits around in coffee shops and moans about the "crypto-fascist tyranny" that is the United States government and wildly speculates over their lattes how the "evil" yet "stupid" George W. Bush is manipulating foreign affairs to achieve world domination. And, yes, they refer to our soldiers - directly or indirectly - as "nazis" without shame. You can actually buy a bumper sticker or t-shirt that reads "Germans supported their troops too." Disgusting.

These nuts should represent an ignored fringe of the Democrat party but they are the most vocal, the most motivated and the biggest activists within the party and - thanks to groups like MoveOn.org - they are controlling its direction. They're like wild animals that must be fed raw meat every now and again or they will turn on their zookeepers.

And for some reason, Democrats inexplicably keep pursuing this bizarre strategy in an attempt to win elections.

When will the left "get it"? In 2002 they thought holding up the Homeland Security bill to fight for union protections would help them win. In 2004 it was the "missing explosives" at the Al Aquaa site and Abu Ghraib that they thought would get them the White House and Congress.

Seems the message in 2006 will be "Vote for us, and we'll bring home our Nazi's from the Middle East - right after we close Gitmo and pay the terrorists there reparations". Good luck with that one guys. Between that message and keeping Howard Dean around you will be able to hold your congressional caucus meetings in a phone booth.

When Democrats reveal who they really are to the American people, Republicans always benefit. So why am I complaining? Because the people who spend all their time wringing their hands over how the world views us don't see the tremendous damage it does to this country's credibility when a U.S. Senator publicy compares our troops to Nazis.

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More William Shatner than most can handle...

Excellent parody of the movie "Seven" starring William Shatner, William Shatner, William Shatner and...you guessed it...William Shatner.

Hat Tip to Jonah Goldberg at NRO's "The Corner"

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Bride and Best Man trapped in tryst...

A Croatian bride found herself stuck in a compromising position with her new husband's best man as they were in the middle of adulterous activity during the wedding reception.

The couple were trapped together by a muscle spasm after a friend of the groom walked in on them as they had sex in the toilets.

Unable to be pulled apart, the couple had to endure a procession of wedding guests who came to see what they had been doing before doctors could turn up.

Unable to help, they had to transport the pair on a stretcher to the local hospital where she was given an injection to relax her muscles, allowing the best man to get free.

If they couldn't be pulled apart, it would seem obvious exactly which of the bride's muscles needed relaxing to release the guy. I wonder if these "muscle spasms" are something that can be learned?

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Doughnut Democrats: No Middle...

The editors at OpinionJournal.com spell out how the Democrat party has abandoned it's roots and - since the death of John Kennedy - has been so dominated by the Left that they have completely alienated the center-right members of the party that had at one time made it a majority.

• With the notable exception of Joe Lieberman, there are virtually no Scoop Jackson defense hawks remaining in a party that has made Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo its main policy touchstones for the war on terror.
• The party that voted en masse for income and capital gains tax cuts under JFK now has but one message on taxes: Raise them.
• On trade, the Democrats who delivered 102 House votes for Nafta and Bill Clinton in 1994 will, at last count, provide all of five House votes for the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
• The Clinton Democrats helped enact the most momentous social policy legislation of the past generation: welfare reform. Now Democrats conspire every day to gut work-for-welfare requirements and prevent the renewal of welfare reform by Congress.
• Above all, there's the know-nothing-ism on Social Security. The Democrats in unison proclaim that Mr. Bush is advancing a risky right-wing scheme to destroy Social Security by creating private investment accounts for workers.

If Democrats maintain this leftward lurch to the exclusion of its more moderate members, than the function of its current Chairman will be less to grow the party than to stop the bleeding.

Howard Dean observed recently that he hopes to "galvanize the Democrats into being the party of individual freedom and personal responsibility." That's a wonderful idea--just the kind that would put the Democrats back on the road to national viability. But that leaves unanswered the question of how a party that opposes voluntary personal accounts for Social Security, school choice for parents, tax and welfare reform, free trade and limited government broadly defined can sell itself as the freedom and responsibility party.

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Move Along, Nothing To See Here...(continued)...

Deborah Orin recognizes the folly of Hillary-dogpiling in her column in the NY Post today.

Republicans may finally be wising up to the fact that it's dumb to turn Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton into a victim by always attacking her and trumpeting every possible scurrilous claim about her.

"She is never stronger than when she's the national victim. People in our party finally get the joke — we're not going to let her be the victim of the right," says Republican strategist Rich Galen.

Referencing the recent allegations from the latest anti-Hillary book, "The Truth About Hillary", Orin notices the warnings from Conservative bloggers not to lend any credence to the wild accusations, lest Klein's screed be bogusly categorized as an "attack" from the "Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy".

I linked some of them earlier this week, and I whole heartily agree. Let the story run its course and keep your distance.

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Thoughts and Observations: The Shiavo Case...

Kathy at Cake Eater Chronicles has some thoughtful observations in the wake of the release of Terri Schiavo's autopsy results about the how the case seemed to polarize the blogosphere a few months back. It was an emotional case on both sides and the internet provided a release for those passions. Unfortunately, in many cases, it got downright ugly. I myself - a very new blogger at the time - stayed away from the fight as long as I could until my own "passions" got the better of me. Because after a while it became extremely difficult not to personalize it.

To Kathy's point:

A friend of mine likes to remind me that this is a very new medium and that we'll never really replace the mainstream media, or even really make all that big of a dent in it, because bloggers, as a whole, aren't really held accountable. A reporter is held accountable to an editor, who is held accountable to the publisher, who is held accountable by the paying public. We're just spouting off here and are accountable, in only a very limited sense, to our readers and our blogging compadres. But since we can delete our blogs with the click of the mouse, and we'll never really face any real-life consequences if we've spouted off about this, that or the other, unless we're blogging at work and have been fired for it.

I had very few conversations with family and friends over the Schiavo case, but the ones I had were not pleasant and I found myself avoiding that topic of conversation much as I had originally avoided that topic of bloggersation (made-up word, I know. so what?). However, notwithstanding the claims on the one side that the autopsy proves them right or the overall silence of those on the other side since the news broke yesterday, I still find so many unanswered questions about the situation that I think it's a bit premature to consider this case "closed".

I have little interest in stoking the flickering embers of debate into another full-blown conflagration - it's too draining. And life - as we learned through this case - is too short to become so wrapped up in a particular tragedy that you ignore the beauty around you.

That being said, I found two posts that make valid points over the results, one from The Anchoress and another from Gateway Pundit for review. Going forward for my part, I - to paraphrase Kathy - will simply keep quiet and watch.

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Bush Dynasty through the first half of this century?

Gullyborg at Resistance Is Futile! has it all figured out - as long as you count Condi as part of the family.

An interesting scenario - both he and I pick George Allen for the top of the ticket in 2008 and I like Condi as VP, too. All this would lead to a chain of events that would have talking heads saying "President Bush" or "Vice-President Bush" for generations.

Surely this would cause spontaneous combustion among the moonbats.

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You shall all suffer for this outrage!!!

NE Republican posts how conservative voters in Ohio punished Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) for his participation in the "compromise" on Bush's judicial nominations by defeating his son, Pat DeWine in yesterday's GOP primary.

The younger DeWine was the early favorite (the name had once helped) to be the Republican nominee for the State's Congressional seat of the 2nd District. But since pop knifed his party in the back by blocking the majority's efforts to ensure the President's judicial nominees would receive a fair up or down vote, voters in the State said "Oh yeah? How do ya like them apples?"

As a result, Pat DeWine finished a distant fourth behind Jean Schmidt (registration required), a former state representative who's not afraid to run as an actual Republican.

Tim Rudd, chairman of the Clermont County Republican Committee, said the feelings against the DeWines were palpable after the senator helped forge the filibuster compromise.

"The reaction was, 'We've got one DeWine; we sure don't want another,' " Rudd said. Schmidt won with about 31% of the vote. DeWine received 12%.

BWWAAAHHAAAAAHHAAAAA!!!!

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"Deferential or Defective"...

Columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr. shares his thoughts today in the Seattle Times about the way Liberals view minorities. His basic point is that, as far as Liberals are concerned, if particular individuals who happen to be minorities don't buy into their talking points and tow the Democrat party line, there is something wrong with them.

Sharing a story about an angry caller who complained that he was "deluded...and maybe insane", Navarrette recognizes that same hostility in the attacks from the Left on Janice Rogers Brown and Alberto Gonzales - which provides Democrats with a kind of dilemma.

How are they supposed to market themselves to minorities as the one-and-only party of opportunity when Bush is putting nonwhite faces in high places? Better to try to paint the Republican Party as a restricted club, as Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean did recently when he described the GOP as "pretty much a white Christian party." And minority Republicans as aberrations.

It's like when they criticized Miguel Estrada because, to them, he "wasn't Hispanic enough" - as if disagreeing with Liberalism makes a minority some kind of sell-out. But the real problem they have is that people like Estrada and Brown and Gonzales represent success stories written by themselves, without dependence upon Liberal policies.

I don't see why liberals won't say what they really mean. It's obvious that what concerns them is not that these nominees aren't real minorities, but rather that they aren't their kind of minority. You know, the kind that asks for permission before they speak and makes sure that what they say falls in line with the views of their liberal benefactors.

These fine individuals serve as threats to the perception that Liberalism and government largesse are needed in order for minorities to succeed. And that chips away at a major rationale for voting Democrat. Of course, their words and deeds of Democrats toward these "defective" nominees will likely have the same effect.

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"The Daily Show" covers the Jacko trial...

Hands down one of the funniest bits I've seen in a long time. Video brought to you by Crooks & Liars with a hat tip to Michelle Malkin.

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"Where I come from there's no such thing as luck."

Okay, gratuitous "Star Wars" quote time.

Anyway, here's a fella who got a little apopleptic over my "conservative quiz" score - specifically over the "luck" question. Personally, I think he's taking it a little too seriously.

But he's got a decent blog. Got check it out here.

Warning, he's a "60%" Liberal (despite the questionable quiz questions). But nobody's perfect!

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Happy Birthday, Pac-Man!!

Yes, the lovable dot-chomping yellow fellow turns 25 this month!

The infamous video-game character was recently seen out on the town with old buddies Inky, Pinky, Blinky and Clyde.

God, I feel old.

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Nude Cyclists Protest Lack of "Cycling Lanes" in Spain...

I really can't decide which gender would find this more uncomfortable.

But I gotta give 'em credit. They know how to get publicity.

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Bush rips Dems at fundraiser...

Whoo-Hooo! The gloves are off, baby! No more Mr. Nice President. Drudge has the scoop.

"If leaders of the other party have innovative ideas, let's hear them. But if they have no ideas or policies except obstruction, they should step aside and let others lead," Mr. Bush said to thunderous applause from more than 5,000 supporters.

The Washington gala raised $23 Million for House and Senate Republicans.

How'd you do this month, Howie?

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Senate Issues Apology For Lynchings...

A bill sponsored by Sen. George Allen (R-VA) - my pick for the GOP nomination, BTW - issued an apology on behalf of the Senate for basically ignoring these horrible crimes.

Seven presidents petitioned Congress to end lynchings. Nearly 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced in the first half of the 20th century. The House passed three anti-lynching measures between 1920 and 1940, but the Senate passed none.

However, Skipper Allan at BMEWS makes a good point that is not mentioned in the news story:

"It should be noted that during this period when the Senate turned its back on these murders, that august body was controlled by a Democrat majority most of the time and a certain Democrat Senator from West Virginia used to dress up in a white sheet occasionally for late night parties ...."

Here, here.

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DNC Alert System...

The Llamabutchers alerted us to this terrific graphic from Cranky NeoCon. If this were real, the colors would change so often as to induce a sense of vertigo.

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Quote of the Day...

"To the extent that Democrats do have alternatives, no one knows about them because they spend so much time going negative, and, going over the top. If there's one thing that turns off independents and moderates, it's negative name-calling. It may work in the thick of a campaign, but Deanism is a turnoff for party-building."

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The Destructive Power of Celebrity...

Andrew Sullivan takes a look at the aftermath of the Michael Jackson case from the perspective of what the power of "celebrity" hath wrought:

And then there's fame. The way in which celebrity has become, after money, the ultimate American poison is illustrated in a particularly poignant way by the case of Michael Jackson. Forced into unimaginable exposure as a pre-pubescent boy, hounded by a brutal father, denied any natural childhood or adolescence, Jackson became the hideous caricature that pure celebrity spawns. Like Gollum with his ring, young Jackson became twisted into unrecognizable malignity by celebrity itself. No one ever said no; no limits helped secure reality for this boy in the media bubble; parents were part of the problem; and money on a mind-boggling scale kept any sanity or balance at bay.

Some may find it hard to feel pity for someone as wealthy as Jackson, but if you view wealth, as I do, as a potential prison of pitiless isolation, then the damage to the man's psyche and soul must have been and still is immeasurable. And damaged people damage others - even in the pathetic, sick way in which Jackson obviously wounded some of the children who foolishly came into his care. The parents of these boys should have known better, but they too were mesmerized by the fantasy of eternal wealth and youth. What you see in this case, then, is the cold, heartless core of American celebrity: a Faustian trade-off between instant, fathomless attention and the maintenance of any sort of psychological or spiritual perspective.

Meanwhile, fame moves on. No one cares much about Jackson's music any more. No one cares about his soul or those of his alleged victims. What the culture of celebrity builds it also destroys - casually. In this case, the wreckage is a husk of a human, the detritus of a culture that feeds on exposure and then, bored, moves on to the next victim. It is because we do not want to look at this too long that we finally look away. The world that created Michael Jackson is also the world that will happily forget him.

The case itself was an American tragedy. But the obsessive fascination with this circus - fed by the media and eagerly consumed by the public - is also tragic. Good point, Sully.

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Top Ten "Jaws" Quotes...

In honor of the upcoming 30th anniversary of one my favorite movies, "Jaws", I've put together a list of my favorite - and IMO the most memorable - lines in the film. I watch this every year around this time. It kind of gets me mentally prepared for summer.

10) “Smile you son of a BITCH!”

9) “Here's to swimmin' with bow-legged women.”

“I can go ‘slow ahead’. Come on down here and chum some of this shit.”

7) “I'm not going to waste my time arguing with a man who's lining up to be a hot lunch.”

6) “Wanna get drunk and fool around?”

5) “Back home we gonna see the taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him!”

4) “Um, I think that I am familiar with the fact that you are going to ignore this particular problem until it swims up and bites you on the ass!”

3) “Well, this is not a boat accident.”

2) "Front, bow. Back, stern. Don't get it right, squirt, I throw your ass out the little round window on the side.”

and number ONE:

“You're gonna need a bigger boat.”

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