Tom McMahon

Cheat The Prophet

From George Will:

There is a Republican tinge to Sen. Clinton's campaign: She is next in line. That fact -- combined with the Clintons' (how often the plural is pertinent) money machine, combined with the Clintons' earned reputation for ferocity -- is supposed to impart to her an aura of inevitability.

But such an aura annoys voters by telling them that they really have no choice. And that can provoke them to play the game that G.K. Chesterton called "Cheat the Prophet": The players listen politely to explanations of what is inevitable, then they make something else happen, which defeats boredom.

Boredom, the sociologist Robert Nisbet wrote, is among the universal and insistent forces driving human behavior. Mankind's nervous system evolved during millions of dangerous years (saber-toothed tigers, etc.). Now, however, mankind has suddenly, in a few millennia, encountered the monotony of orderly life, which bothers human brains formed by and for hazardous circumstances.

Among the cures of boredom that Nisbet listed are war, murder, revolution, suicide, alcohol, narcotics and pornography. He might have added presidential politics. Memo to the Clinton campaign: Inevitability is boring.

Hillary In Hollywood

Hillary In Hollywood

The Religion of Peace Muslims vs The Slit Their Throats Muslims

From Ann Coulter:

We're in a battle for our survival and we don't even know who the enemy is. As liberals are constantly reminding us, Islam is a "Religion of Peace." One very promising method of distinguishing the "Religion of Peace" Muslims from the "Slit Their Throats" Muslims is by following the al-Qaida money trail.

But now we've lost that ability -- thanks to The New York Times.

People have gotten so inured to ridiculous behavior on the left that they are no longer capable of appropriate outrage when something truly treasonous happens. It is rather like the rape accusation against Bill Clinton losing its impact because of the steady stream of perjury, obstruction of justice, treason, adultery and general sociopathic behavior coming from that administration.

The Big Challenge For Hillary Clinton In 2008

Peggy Noonan nails it:

Media people keep saying, as Hillary gears up for her presidential bid, that her big challenge in 2008 will be to prove that she is as tough as a man. That she could order troops to war. That she's not girly and soft.

This is the exact opposite of the truth. Hillary doesn't have to prove her guy chops. She doesn't have to prove she's a man, she has to prove she's a woman. No one in America thinks she's a woman. They think she's a tough little termagant in a pantsuit. They think she's something between an android and a female impersonator. She is not perceived as a big warm mommy trying to resist her constant impulse to sneak you candy. They think she has to resist her constant impulse to hit you with a bat. She lacks a deep (as opposed to quick) warmth, a genuine and almost phenomenological sense of rightness in her own skin. She seems like someone who might calculatedly go to war, or not, based on how she wanted to be perceived and look and do. She does not seem like someone who would anguish and weep over sending men into harm's way.

And in this, as president, she would be deeply unusual. LBJ felt anguish; there are pictures of him, head in hands, suffering. Bush the Elder wept as he talked, with Paula Zahn, about what it was to send men to war. Bush the Younger would breastfeed the military if he could. Hillary is like someone who would know she should be moved but wouldn't be because she couldn't be because . . . well, why? That is the question. Maybe a lifetime in politics has bled some of the human element out of her. Maybe there wasn't that much to begin with. Maybe she thinks that if she wept, the wires that hold her together would short.

Commander in Chief

An excerpt from Carey Roberts:

Last week ABC announced it was yanking Commander in Chief, the highly-touted series about the first American female president. It had fallen to No. 64 in the Nielsen ratings, so taking the show off life-support was only a matter of time.

Commander in Chief was not a TV series in the usual sense. Rather it was a nationally-televised focus group, designed to test out issues, talking points, and applause lines for Hillary Clinton's stealth presidential campaign.

The lead script writer was Steve Cohen, whose ties to the Clinton family go back to 1991. After a stint in president Bill Clinton's press office, Mr. Cohen was named Hillary's deputy communications director, a position he held for over three years.

Insert Funny Caption Here

Last Minute Pardons And Commutations Granted By Bill Clinton

Always a good idea to refresh our collective memory on what a true sleazeball Bill Clinton was. Here's the list from CNN :

Pardons granted January 20, 2001

ALLEN, VERLA JEAN
ALTIERE, NICHOLAS M.
ALTSCHUL, BERNICE RUTH
ANDERSON, JOE, JR.
ANDERSON, WILLIAM STERLING
AZIZKHANI, MANSOUR T.
BABIN, CLEVELAND VICTOR, JR.
BAGLEY, CHRIS HARMON
BANE, SCOTT LYNN
BARBER, THOMAS CLEVELAND
BARGON, PETTY ANN
BLAMPIED, DAVID ROSCOE
BORDERS, WILLIAM ARTHUR, JR.
BOREL, ARTHUR DAVID
BOREL, DOUGLAS CHARLES
BRABHAM, GEORGE THOMAS
BRASWELL, ALMON GLENN
BROWDER, LEONARD
BROWN, DAVID STEVEN
BURLESON, DELORES CORYLENE, aka DELORES COX BURLESON
BUSTAMATE, JOHN H.
CAMPBELL, MARY LOUISE
CANDELARIA, ELOIDA
CAPILI, DENNIS SOBREVINAS
CHAMBERS, DONNA DENISE
CHAPMAN, DOUBLAS EUGENE
CHAPMAN, RONALD KEITH
CHAVEZ, FRANCISCO LARIOS
CISNEROS, HENRY G.
CLINTON, ROGER
COHN, STUART HARRIS
COOPER, DAVID MARC
COX, ERNEST HARLEY, JR.
CROSS, JOHN F., JR.
CUNNINGHAM, RICKEY LEE
DE LABIO, RICHARD ANTHONY
DEUTCH, JOHN
DOUGLAS, RICHARD
DOWNE, EDWARD REYNOLDS
DUDLEY, MARVIN DEAN
DUNCAN, LARRY LEE
FAIN, ROBERT CLINTON
FERNANDEZ, MARCOS ARCENIO
FERROUILLET, ALVAREZ
FUGAZY, WILLIAM DENIS
GEORGE, LLOYD REID
GOLDSTEIN, LOUIS
GORDON, RUBYE LEE
GREEN, PINCUS
HAMNDR, ROBERT IVEY
HANDLEY, SAMUEL PRICE
HANDLEY WOODIE RANDOLPH
HARMON, JAY HOUSTON
HEMMINGSON, JOHN
HERDLINGER, DAVID S.
HUCKLEBERRY, DEBI RAE
JAMES, DONALD RAY
JOBE, STANELY PRUET
JOHNSON, RUBEN H.
JONES, LINDA
LAKE, JAMES HOWARD
LEWIS, JUNE LOUISE
LEWIS, SALIM BONNOR
LODWICK, JOHN LEIGHTON
LOPEZ, HILDEBRANDO
LUACES, JOSE JULIO
MANESS, JAMES TIMOTHY
MANNING, JAMES LOWELL
MARTIN, JOHN ROBERT
MARTINEZ, FRANK AYALA
MARTINEZ, SILVIA LETICIA BELTRAN
McCORMICK, JOHN FRANCIS
McDOUGAL, SUSAN H.
MECHANIC, HOWARD LAWRENCE
MITCHELL, BROOK K., SR.
MORISON, SAMUEL LORING
MORGAN, CHARLES WILFRED, II
NAZZARO, RICHARD ANTHONY
NOSENKO, CHARLENE ANN
OBERMEIER, VERMON RAYMOND
OGALDE, MIGUELINA
OWEN, DAVID C.
PALMER, ROBERT W.ROSS, ANNA LOUISE
PERHOSKY, KELLI ANNE
PEZZOPANE, RICHARD H.
PHILLIPS, ORVILLE REX
POLING, VINSON STEWART, JR.
PROUSE, NORMAN LYLE
PRUITT, WILLIE H. H., JR.
PURSLEY, DANNY MARTIN, SR.
RAVENEL, CHARLES D.
RAY, WILLIAM CLYDE
REGALADO, ALFREDO LUNA
RICAFORT, ILDEFONSO REYNES
RICH, MARC
RIDDLE HOWARD WINFIELD
RILEY, RICHARD WILSON, JR.
ROBBINS, SAMUEL LEE
RODRIGUEZ, JOEL GONZALES
ROGERS, MICHAEL JAMES
RUST, GERALD GLEN
RUST, JERRI ANN
RUTHERFORD, BIETTYE JUNE
SANDS, GREGORY LEE
SCHWIMMER, ADOLPH
SERETTI, ALBERT A., JR.
SHAW, PATRICIA CAMPBELL HEARST
SMITH, DENNIS JOSEPH
SMITH, GERALD OWEN
SMITH, STEPHEN A.
SPEAKE, JIMMIE LEE
STEWART, CHARLES BERNARD
STEWART-ROLLINS, MARLENA FRANCISCA
SYMINGTON, JOHN FIFE, III
TANNEHILL, RICHARD LEE
TENGALIA, NICHOLAS C.
THOMAS, GARY ALLEN
TODD, LARRY WELDON
TREVINO, OLGA C.
VAMVOUKLIS, IGNATIOUS
VAN DE WEERD, PATRICIA A.
WADE, CHRISTOPHER V.
WARMATH, BILL WAYNE
WATSON, JACK KENNETH
WEBB, DONNA LYNN
WELLS, DONALD WILLIAM
WENDT, ROBERT H.
WILLIAMS, JACK L.
WILLIAMS, KEVIN ARTHUR
WILLIAMS, ROBERT MICHAEL
WILSON, JIMMIE LEE
WINGATE, THELMA LOUISE
WOOD, MITCHELL, COUEY
WOOD, WARREN STANNARD
WORTHEY, DEWEY
YALE, RICK ALLEN
YASAK, JOSEPH A.
YINGLING, WILLIAM STANLEY
YOUNG, PHILLIP DAVID

Commutations granted January 20, 2001

BERGER, BENJAMIN
BLACKLEY, RONALD HENDERSON
BOLAN, BERT WAYNE
CAMARGO, GLORIA LIBIA
CAMPBELL, CHARLES F.
CHANDLER, DAVID RONALD
CHIN, LAU CHING
CLARK, DONALD R.
COFFMAN, LORETA DE-ANN
CURRY, DERRICK
DESALUS, VELINDA
ELBAUM, JACOB
EANS, LINDA SUE
FISH, LORETTA SHARON
FRINK, ANTOINETTE M.
GOLDSTEIN, DAVID
GREENFIELD, GERARD A.
ISRAEL, JODIE E.
JOHNSON, KIMBERLY
D. LANGSTON, BILLY THORNTON, JR.
LUMPKIN, BELINDA LYNN
MACDONALD, PETER
MANN, KELLIE ANN
NINEMIRE, PETER
PADMORE, HUGH RICARDO
PROSPERI, ARNOLD PAUL
REYNOLDS, MELVIN J.
RIVEIRO, PEDRO MIGUEL
RIVERS, DOROTHY
ROSENBERG, SUSAN
STERN, KALMEN
STRINGFELLOW, CORY
VIGNALI, CARLOS ANIBEL, JR.
WADDELL, III, THOMAS WILSON
WEINIG, HARVEY
WILLIS, KIM ALLEN

Is Hillary Doomed?

An excerpt from Steve Kellmeyer:

Hillary’s campaign for President is dead.

It wasn’t Vince Foster that killed it.
It wasn’t the Travelgate scandal.
It wasn’t her radically pro-abortion stance,
It wasn't her new modified abortion stance.
It wasn’t her healthcare initiative or her promise to give America two presidents for the price of one.
It wasn’t her illegal dealings on the stock market.

None of these had the power to kill her. Like the Hydra, she has always sprouted two new heads after every crushing defeat and became all the more formidable against her opponents.

No, what seared her campaign with fire and ash was the only flame that can kill a presidential campaign in this day and age.

High-definition television.

Flying Toasters Return; Firm Founder Funded Fanatic Fellowship

Flying Toasters Screensaver And Firm Founder Joan Blades

Who knew that those cute little toasters would end up funding MoveOn.org? (via the Country Store)

A Legacy Arrives

An excerpt from Rich Lowry's Legacy: Paying The Price For The Clinton Years:

The September 11 attacks threw the Clinton adminstration's national security policies into harsh relief. It is impossible to prevent every terrorist attack. That shouldn't be the standard for judging an administration's record. The standard should be whether every reasonable tool at the government's disposal was leveraged to make the terrorists' work more difficult. By that standard, Clinton flunks. He knew about the threat. Yet, he tolerated a terrorist sanctuary in Afghanistan, tolerated Saudi and Pakistani support for terrorism, put the FBI and the CIA in the position of always playing defense, and made the protection of American lives from terrorist attacks no better than a secondary priority of the administration.

The September 11 attacks finally gave Clinton the kind of legacy he had yearned for: one that couldn't be ignored, one that was great in its implications. His could no longer be considered an inconsequential presidency. In leaving the country vulnerable to such an attack after eight years in office, Clinton had achieved the perverse distinction of a monstrous, world-shaking failure.