In it to win it

Romney makes significant Super Tuesday ad-buy.

Amusing conversations of the last two days

Me: Urg, it's McCain, my nightmare is coming true.
Dawn Summers: Hahahahaha.
Me: I don't know what you're laughing at.
Dawn (clearly unsure if a McCain candidacy is a good or bad thing for Democrats): Sob, I don't know what I'm laughing at either.

My father: Are you celebrating Valentine's Day?
Me: No, I hate Valentine's Day. I just can't be that corny.
Him: It's all about the company. I'd celebrate Ramadan if the company was good.

Me: Are you betting on the Superbowl?
NFP: I bet on British soccer at 10am on Saturday mornings but I think I'm going to sit out the Superbowl.
Me: Really?
NFP: No, dude.

Mitt. Mitt. Mitt.

Thinking of voting for McCain because you think the writing is on the wall, that he'll be our nominee and so you may as well get used to it? Read this first (hat-tip Hot Air Headlines). There is more conservative man in this race, and one that doesn't want to change the constitution to reflect the bible. That man is Mitt Romney. We'll all have to suck it up and go with McCain if he's the Republican candidate running against Hillary or Obama. But we don't have to do it yet. Go Mitt.

Eye. Roll.

Dear women of the world, Carol Sarler of Britain's Daily Mail doesn't think you should worry about your man having an affair. At least he's not beating you. And no, sadly, she's not kidding.

There's only one thing left to do--Let's Go Mitt!

"Start looking hard at the numbers and put yourself in the discussions with Team Romney. It isn't pretty, but it is far, far from over."- Hugh Hewitt

I actually think it is over but as I wrote on Walter Olson's Facebook wall, when we end up with McCain I won't forgive myself for not agitating for Mitt.

Expect this site to be all-Mitt-love-all-the-time until the point when I will have to resolve myself to the fact that my Republican party picked the worst candidate of the whole damn bunch and start supporting, gag, John McCain. And make no mistake about it, I'll support McCain when he's the Republican nominee. No matter my problems with him, my problems with Hillary or Obama are so much deeper. Now is our last chance to get another candidate. If we fail to do that, McCain will have to be our guy and we will all have to get behind him. Even those of us who wrote multiple posts titled "Anybody But McCain." Sigh.

Want to get involved with the Mitt campaign in your state and don't know how? Drop me an email and I'll figure it out for you. This is still doable. Not very doable but we must at least try. Go Mitt!

I cry

McCain wins Florida

Rudy to endorse McCain tomorrow

I hated to say it. I really did.

Headline of the Day

"Obama to bring hope, change to Iraq by abandoning it immediately"

-Allahpundit

Fight for New York

Barack Obama to run ads in New York. Watch your back, Hill, your faux Yankee fandom won't save you now.

Let's go..Judge Doom or Gordon Gekko?

Dorian Davis compares the candidates to their fictional counterparts in Jewcy.

Wait, where have I heard this before?

Oh yes, it was during the Howard Dean campaign and then again during John Kerry's. Errol Lewis in today's NY Daily News:

The big untold story in the race - the greatest, most unpredictable factor - is Obama's creation of a powerful youth movement that pollsters and pundits often overlook. On the day before the primary, Clinton got a tepid response from about 600 students at a black college and Edwards spoke to about 200 - but Obama wowed 5,000 kids at Clemson University, and another 1,000 or so at a late-night rally across the street from the University of South Carolina.

I spoke to students who traveled from places like Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and New York to volunteer for the campaign. One group of out-of-state twentysomething volunteers I spent time with arrived from up north like old-style civil rights workers, knocking on doors by day and bunking with local families at night.

They were charged up and happy to be working for Obama - and positively delirious at the rallies.

"Young people are voting at rates we have not seen in the history of this country," Obama told a cheering crowd on Friday night. "It's your generation that can imagine not just the world as it is, but the world as it could be."

Let me, again, quote myself the day after the last presidential election from my "lessons from an election" post:

Young people don't vote. They have never voted. They will never vote. Even when you threaten them with death. Even when Eminem makes a 'cool' video about it. Even when they're lied to and told that they'll get drafted. Counting on the young vote (or, really, 'new' voters of any age) is just about the worst strategy for any campaign.

But, as you all know, I'm rooting for Obama because I think he will be easier to beat than Hillary here's hoping they keep on keeping on with the strategy of attracting new voters to the polls. It might totally work this time.

Give men a break

Kay Hymnowitz has an interesting article in the latest issue of City Journal bemoaning the state of today's young men. Apparently, they like half-naked women, football, video games and staying single. Shocking, I know. And apparently this just won't do:

Not so long ago, the average mid-twentysomething had achieved most of adulthood’s milestones—high school degree, financial independence, marriage, and children. These days, he lingers—happily—in a new hybrid state of semi-hormonal adolescence and responsible self-reliance. Decades in unfolding, this limbo may not seem like news to many, but in fact it is to the early twenty-first century what adolescence was to the early twentieth: a momentous sociological development of profound economic and cultural import. Some call this new period “emerging adulthood,” others “extended adolescence”; David Brooks recently took a stab with the “Odyssey Years,” a “decade of wandering.”

But while we grapple with the name, it’s time to state what is now obvious to legions of frustrated young women: the limbo doesn’t bring out the best in young men. With women, you could argue that adulthood is in fact emergent. Single women in their twenties and early thirties are joining an international New Girl Order, hyperachieving in both school and an increasingly female-friendly workplace, while packing leisure hours with shopping, traveling, and dining with friends [see “The New Girl Order,” Autumn 2007]. Single Young Males, or SYMs, by contrast, often seem to hang out in a playground of drinking, hooking up, playing Halo 3, and, in many cases, underachieving. With them, adulthood looks as though it’s receding.

But why not have an extended adolescence? What, ultimately, is the harm in playing Halo and hanging out with friends?

Hymnowitz continues:

"Consider: in 1970, 69 percent of 25-year-old and 85 percent of 30-year-old white men were married; in 2000, only 33 percent and 58 percent were, respectively"

In 1970 the life expectancy of an American male was 67 years old. Today it is about 76. He's picked up nearly a decade and damn right he's going to use it to have some fun. Why begrudge men that?

Look, I've read Mark Steyn's "America Alone", I understand our need to maintain a certain birth rate. But Hymnowitz, and all the others who pick on people who maintain that 30 is the new 20, don't say that these men will never settle down and outgrow their adolescence. They will get married, have babies, be responsible, and contribute to society. Just not today. And they will always love football and naked women, but so what? Women like tons of brainless crap from celebrity gossip magazines to shoe-shopping. No one calls us infants because we know what Paris Hilton is doing today. No one says we're immature when we spend a week's salary on Manolos. So, no, I have no scolding for the 20-something man who is doing his thing, even if that thing is getting really good at Playstation. His own life situation will cause him to grow up. No article mocking his lifestyle ever will.

Hat-tip CHSW.

Menterosa

Clinton Brings Campaign to Florida:

Like her rivals, Clinton has agreed to a pledge imposed by national party leaders not to publicly campaign in the state. But after South Carolina, Clinton was skating up against the edge of that agreement and trying to lend some credibility to the outcome Tuesday.

She arrived in Florida on Sunday for two events - both closed fundraisers, in keeping with the pledge not to campaign. She clearly winked at that pledge with her arrival, joking about the warm weather and positioning herself so photographers had a palm tree for a backdrop.

"It is absolutely glorious," said Clinton. "It is a perfect day here in Florida."

What's a broken pledge between you and a friend?

Song of the Day

"No Diggity" by Blackstreet.

In the winter of 1997, you couldn't get into a car in Brooklyn without this song playing on the sound system. Years later I would hear the opening beats of the Bill Withers song "Grandma's Hands" and realize that's where Blackstreet got that great backing beat. I guess Blackstreet is technically a one-hit wonder though they've done background stuff on other big hits. Still, one-hit wonder or not, ten years later while driving around Manhattan with my, um, Netflix partner and his visiting Israeli cousin, everyone knew to sing along with the line of the song:

"I can't get her out of my mind...OW...I think about the girl all the time."

Pretty damn classic.

Dawn Summers Down Under

Waiters in Australia don’t work for tips and oh, you can tell. It’s like by the end you are so frustrated about your empty water glass, and missing miso soup that you’re like, I am so not leaving a tip for this…oh…right…well played Australian waiter, well played.

The next hilarious installment of Dawn's trip to Australia is now up at Clareified.

Genius

But I agree with Allahpundit that Rudy's awesome new ad is too little too late.

Comment Exchange of the Day

On my "what a nightmare" post below:

"Wow, nominating a candidate that appeals more to cross-over voters than partisan fanatics. What a nightmare!"-Joe Grossberg

"Joe, the problem Republicans have with McCain is they'd like a Republican to be the nominee. Even if McCain is the best available Democrat, it just doesn't feel right."-Mark Poling

The one we've all been waiting for

'80s boy band New Kids on the Block set for comeback

What. A. Nightmare.

No, really, I can't sleep:

“She and John McCain are very close,” [former President Bill Clinton] said. “They always laugh that if they wound up being the nominees of their party, it would be the most civilized election in American history and they’re afraid they’d put the voters to sleep because they like and respect each other.”

Finally, a candidate I can really get behind

Hat-tip Ken Wheaton.

Gosh it sounds like they're hoping

The NY Times in their endorsement of, who else, John McCain in the Republican primary:

Mr. McCain was one of the first prominent Republicans to point out how badly the war in Iraq was being managed. We wish he could now see as clearly past the temporary victories produced by Mr. Bush’s unsustainable escalation, which have not led to any change in Iraq’s murderous political calculus.

Emphasis mine.

Agreed

John Edwards is the worst:

People can change their minds about something. But everything? The man served one term in the Senate. He left not a single substantial piece of legislation to his name, only an endless string of votes on trade, education, civil liberties, energy, bankruptcy and, of course, war that now he not only renounces but inveighs against.

Today he plays the avenging angel, engaged in an "epic struggle" against the great economic malefactors that "have literally," he assures us, "taken over the government." He is angry, embodying the familiar zeal of the convert, ready to immolate anyone who benightedly holds to any revelation other than the zealot's very latest.

Nothing new about a convert. Nothing new about a zealous convert. What is different about Edwards is his endlessly repeated claim that the raging populist of today is what he has always been. That this has been the "cause of my life," the very core of his being, ingrained in him on his father's knee or at the mill or wherever, depending on the anecdote he's telling. You must understand: This is not politics for him. "This fight is deeply personal to me. I've been engaged in it my whole life."

Read the whole thing. I love the killer last line: "It profits a man nothing to sell his soul for the whole world. But for 4 percent of the Nevada caucuses?"

Via Hot Air Headlines.

Wacky

Jessica Simpson's lawyers have demanded a retraction from OK Magazine for printing that Tony Romo had dumped Jess. I guess they really want those two crazy kids to make it.

Via Hot Air Headlines.

Not just because we don't want to be like Europe

Back in October, I wrote that conservatives must re-explain all of our positions to the electorate, and not count on our wins of these arguments in the past to carry us through. Betsy McCaughey does a great job explaining why mandatory health insurance is a really bad idea in the WSJ.

Hat-tip Avery.

My grandma used to say "eendyook tozhe doomal"

Or, "the turkey also thought":

Saddam Hussein initially didn't think the U.S. would invade Iraq to destroy weapons of mass destruction, so he kept the fact that he had none a secret to prevent an Iranian invasion he believed could happen.

Headline of the Day

By Ace of Spades:

"Suicide Bomber Trips and Falls Down Stairs; Dies of Embarrassment and Bomb Detonation, But Mostly Bomb Detonation"

Man up

I woke up to the news today that Tony Romo has dumped Jessica Simpson. You'd think I'd be happy about this but actually, I think his reasoning is kind of gay (not homosexual, just gay):

Dallas Cowboys star Tony Romo has reportedly dumped Jessica Simpson, who was widely blamed for costing him a shot at the Super Bowl.

“Tony is now starting to blame her himself,” a pal told OK! magazine. “Before dating Jessica, he was Texas’ golden boy. Now he’s become a joke.”

If he's the type to get distracted by a chick, it won't matter if it's Jessica or Lindsay or some other trashy chick with good proportions. It's something he has to work on in himself, not blame the blonde of the week.

Song of the Day

"I'm trying to break your heart" by Wilco.

I have no idea what this song is about. I mean, yes, I get it, he's trying to break her heart. But the lyrics are just so weird.

Update: I just looked it up and this was actually my song of the day in September too. I didn't understand what he was saying then either.

Don't ask

If you're in Montreal and wanting Spice Girls tickets, I've got what you need.

This is going to end badly

Palestinians Destroy Wall, Flood Egypt

Eh, who cares about politics?

I've been on a 'reading personal blogs' kick:

**Dawn Summers is back from Australia but her first hilarious post is all about getting there.

**Ari picks up the "I don't want no scrub" theme from Pretty Numbers and runs with it. (For the record, I generally frown on such men-bashing, because I think there are good men everywhere, but if you've read Ari for awhile you know she's entitled to a little bashing.)

**Bunniblog writes up her steamy Parisian affair (start at the bottom post and scroll up--and be warned that there is "explicit material" in her posts.)

**And Mr. Peter has three posts for the price of one. Bargain!

Song of the Day

"Going back to Cali" by Notorious B.I.G.

Heath Ledger is dead.

Very sad, he was very hot.

Headline of the Day

From The Cabal's news roundup:

cHuckabee in Trouble. The Huckster is cutting budget and trimming staff. Why has God forsaken him?

So, what now?

We're going to get stuck with McCain as our candidate, I just know it.

It's over

Fred withdraws.

Yankee gone south

NY Yankee Johnny Damon is stumping for Rudy in Florida.

Hat-tip Mr. Peter.

Learning to live with John McCain

What if McCain makes Fred his VP?

MLK had a dream

Bill Clinton is just trying to get his sleep on.

Hat-tip Charles Star via Old Hickory.

New Yorkers, get excited

Magnolia Bakery has opened an upper west side location.

Really? Too feminine is a concern?

Hillary disses Vogue for fear of appearing "too feminine".

My nightmare coming true

Me, 11/28/07: "Here's what I want from my Giuliani-fan friends in return: if McCain has some upset in either NH or Iowa, I want all of you Giuliani people to admit at that time that McCain's surge will be due to the fact that Republican primary voters just won't vote for a pro-choice, anti-gun, ex-Mayor of New Yawk. They will be choosing McCain as a direct reaction to Giuliani. They will be worrying about Romney or Huckabee in the general and they will find McCain to be conservative enough to support in both."

Today: AP Poll: McCain soars, Giuliani plummets

Fred Thompson's last stand

Dear South Carolina Republicans,

Don't listen to Allahpundit, vote for Fred!

Love, Karol

(Yes, I have endorsed Giuliani but as he's unlikely to place in South Carolina, and as my "anybody but McCain" policy is quickly becoming an "anybody but McCain or that guy who wants to amend the Constitution to reflect the bible" hope, I would love to see Fred actually become a contender in this thing. If Fred pulls off something miraculous in SC, we'll have one more candidate to make the McCain/Huckabee nightmare end.)

Canada is in deep trouble

A summary.

Hat-tip Hot Air.

Stop questioning my patriotism

I caught the unbelieveably irritating Chris Matthews on one of the latenight shows, I believe it was Leno, a few days ago.

He said that anyone who goes to an Obama event and listens to him speak without shedding tears is not a good American. Dawn Summers, you are a bad American.

Quote of the Day

The Edwards campaign just sent out a missive entitled, "Where is John?" Hopefully it's a mass email because, if not, I had no idea it was my week to keep track of him.

-Shawn Macomber, who consistently cracks me up.

Movies

I didn't love the ending, and the plot had some holes, but I really enjoyed "3:10 to Yuma".

Christian Bale deserves to be much more famous than he currently is. He's easily one of the better actors of his generation, I'd say on par with Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp. My favorite character in the film was Charlie Prince played by Ben Foster, whom I had never seen in anything except Six Feet Under. He stole a lot of the scenes as the ruthless, loyal sidekick to Russell Crowe's gunslinging robber.

I'm doing Netflix again, after a hiatus caused by my holding on to the film Ghandi for something like a year and deciding I wasn't the type to get my money's worth from their service. I'm doing it with someone this time, which has its plusses (I'll probably watch the movies in a shorter timeframe) and minuses (there is a movie called Jackass Number Two on our list). Below is our queue so far, feel free to leave suggestions in the comment section:

Donnie Darko
Volver
Eddie Murphy: Delirious
Shoot 'Em Up
The Prestige
The Straight Story
Hotel Rwanda
The Lives of Others
The Illusionist
Capote
The Triplets of Belleville
Raw
Pan's Labyrinth
My Left Foot: Special Edition
The Queen
The Pianist
Jackass: Number Two
Beer League
Black Snake Moan
Pollock
Happiness
Great Expectations
Amores Perros
The Proposition
Blood Simple
Avalon
Diner
Tin Men

SJF seeking badass

Remember when my girl Pretty Numbers wrote about an epidemic of, well, wussiness among men?

Well, she's now specifically "looking for a man who likes steak, guns, flying planes, right wing politics, and well, kicking some major ass."

The "flying planes" is a touch specific but if I were a man I'd learn to fly a plane and marry her so fast. And before you ask, yes, she's hot.

Mitt?

I had lunch with Shawn Macomber yesterday and, while sitting outside the pizza place, a group of well-groomed young men with a bounce in their step, wearing suits and nametags, walked by us. "Don't see that many Mormon missionaries around here." Shawn said as they passed. (Although, thinking back, we were sitting on West 69th and Columbus Ave and there is a huge Church of Latter Day Saints building three blocks away on West 66th).

With Mitt Romney's win in Michigan, and, let's face it, with him being, by far the best of the three current "frontrunners", I thought it would be a good time to link this article from the December Economist on Mormonism.

Growing up in Brooklyn, I didn't meet many Mormons, none in fact, so I found it pretty informational. They seem to generally be hard-working, clean-living people. And Shawn, who apparently has met some Mormons in his time (and has a really great post on the subject here), said that he had never met one that wasn't cheerful, energetic, and generally happy.

I don't know why they get a bad rap, and I look forward to my commenters informing me. For those who worry about Mitt's Mormonism, doesn't Mike Huckabee's plainly insane religiosity scare you more than Mitt's not-all-that-strange religion?

UPDATE: Ann Coulter's endorsement of Mitt is just classic:

Unluckily for McCain, snowstorms in Michigan suppressed the turnout among Democratic "Independents" who planned to screw up the Republican primary by voting for our worst candidate. Democrats are notoriously unreliable voters in bad weather. Instead of putting on galoshes and going to the polls, they sit on their porches waiting for FEMA to rescue them.

In contrast to Michigan's foul weather, New Hampshire was balmy on primary day, allowing McCain's base – Democrats – to come out and vote for him.

Assuming any actual Republicans are voting for McCain – or for liberals' new favorite candidate for us, Mike Huckabee – this column is for you.

I've been casually taking swipes at Mitt Romney for the past year based on the assumption that, in the end, Republicans would choose him as our nominee. My thinking was that Romney would be our nominee because he is manifestly the best candidate.

I had no idea that Republican voters in Iowa and New Hampshire planned to do absolutely zero research on the candidates and vote on the basis of random impulses.

Read the whole thing. When Ann is on, she's on.

Things that are forever

Word is Amy Winehouse's husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, has asked her for a divorce. Writes Perez Hilton:

One big problem with a divorce, though. Amy didn't make him sign a pre-nup!

Oops.

Actually, I think a much bigger oops is that she has his name tattooed over her left breast:

At least he put his behind his ear.

"You don't like ballers/that's what you say/but you really wouldn't mind a millionaire"

Allahpundit, aka the biggest relationship cynic evah, sends along this article about what British women believe constitutes the perfect man. They leave off things like "kindness" and "intelligence" and opt instead for someone with a "wacky sense of humor" (sidenote: I consider a sense of humor to be the most important feature in everyone, not just my man, but if a sense of humor can be described as 'wacky' then that sense of humor is not for me) and facial hair. Anyway, if he's got the silver Mercedes, who needs anything else?

Man v. Dog

In one of the more disgusting videos ever, my buddy Adam "Hungry Hebrew" Taxin tries to outeat a dog.

Money, money, money, always funny

A piece in the LA Times examines the odd emotional relationship people have to money:

Would you rather earn $50,000 a year while other people make $25,000, or would you rather earn $100,000 a year while other people get $250,000? Assume for the moment that prices of goods and services will stay the same.

I would rather earn the $100,000 but apparently most people, including the normally logical, calculating young man that sent me this article, would choose to earn more than those around them.

What say you all? Be honest.

Tomorrow in NYC

I'm going to this tomorrow:

January 17, 2008, 7:00pm: Come join the NYYRC (the state-party affiliated one) Members and Non-members alike to hear from Jonah Goldberg, editor of the National Review! WNRC 3 W 51st btwn 5th and 6th.

You can find other right-leaning events around NYC on Rightevents.com.

UPDATE: It occurs to me that Jonah is not actually editor of NR, that's Rich Lowry. But that's how the NYYRC is promoting it so take it up with them.

Token Republican

I went from "intelligent and accomplished" to "ideologically corrupt". Damn. What BG doesn't know is that if I had any kind of time with him, I'd have him voting Republican so fast. I know convertible people when I see them. It's a talent, really.

Me, me, me (bumped)

I'm going to be on the Adam Taxin show today, on WNWR 1540 out of Philly, at 1pm.

Listen live on their website.

We discuss the presidential race, being the only Republican in my class at NYU and, of course, the Dallas Cowboys.

UPDATE: Per Larry in the comment section, it turns out my interview has already been archived. You can listen here (I come on at about the 5 minute mark). I think I was pretty nice to all the Republican candidates, Larry's comments not withstanding, even admitting that while I don't want McCain as our guy he's miles better than Hillary or Obama. I also talk about how electing a Democrat, any Democrat, means 4 years of watching them kiss Sharpton-butt. Nobody wants to see that, right?

Congrats Mitt!

We've got ourselves a race!

Lying liars

On average, people tell four lies a day:

According to the survey, "There's nothing wrong with me... I'm fine" comes top of the league, with 28 per cent of those surveyed admitting to using it habitually.

Also in the top 20 are "Nice to see you", "Sorry I missed your call", "I'm stuck in traffic", "Our server was down", "The train was delayed", "The cheque's in the post", "I'll phone you back in a minute", "This tastes delicious", and "Of course I love you".

My favorite part in the piece:

Ordinarily, I regard myself as a truthful person, which the great essayist Harold Nicolson defined as "someone who, when they tell a lie, is careful not to forget they have done so, and who takes infinite precautions to prevent being found out".

Yep, I always thought I'd lie more often if I could count on my memory. As my friend Andreas used to say about me, though, I have a memory like a sieve.

Via Fark.

Song of the Day

"Love Street" by the Doors.

My favorite Doors song is "Whiskey Bar" but I have a soft spot for Love Street. I love how Jim Morrison would "like to see what happens." It sounds so innocent.

Ouchy

Christopher Hitchens lays the smack down on the Clintons:

What do you have to forget or overlook in order to desire that this dysfunctional clan once more occupies the White House and is again in a position to rent the Lincoln Bedroom to campaign donors and to employ the Oval Office as a massage parlor? You have to be able to forget, first, what happened to those who complained, or who told the truth, last time. It's often said, by people trying to show how grown-up and unshocked they are, that all Clinton did to get himself impeached was lie about sex. That's not really true. What he actually lied about, in the perjury that also got him disbarred, was the women. And what this involved was a steady campaign of defamation, backed up by private dicks (you should excuse the expression) and salaried government employees, against women who I believe were telling the truth. In my opinion, Gennifer Flowers was telling the truth; so was Monica Lewinsky, and so was Kathleen Willey, and so, lest we forget, was Juanita Broaddrick, the woman who says she was raped by Bill Clinton. (For the full background on this, see the chapter "Is There a Rapist in the Oval Office?" in the paperback version of my book No One Left To Lie To. This essay, I may modestly say, has never been challenged by anybody in the fabled Clinton "rapid response" team.) Yet one constantly reads that both Clintons, including the female who helped intensify the slanders against her mistreated sisters, are excellent on women's "issues."

Hat-tip Dorian Davis and James.

"I don't care what none of you say, I still love 'em"

I am getting so much Cowboys abuse today that I feel the need to reaffirm my Cowboys love. Here it is, smile on my face wearing a Cowboys shirt, the day after their terrible playoffs loss:

I rather be a 'Boys fan, even when they're losing, then the fan of any other team. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Where will the rest go?

Ron Paul supporter Todd Seavey gives up the ReLovelution dream, calls Huckabee "Republican Worst-Case Scenario",