Brett Kimberlin Tests the Courts

Stacy McCain is still in hiding but reports that Brett Kimberlin will be in court Tuesday:

Convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin’s failed attempt to silence bloggers who tell the truth about Kimberlin’s criminality will be the subject of a court hearing Tuesday morning in Montgomery County, Maryland. 

Kimberlin, who in 1981 was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison for his Indiana bombing spree and other crimes, has requested a “peace order” against Virginia attorney Aaron Walker, who says Kimberlin tried to “frame” him on an assault charge earlier this year. The final hearing on Kimberlin’s peace order request – which Walker has described as “frivolous” – is scheduled for Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. in Montgomery County District Court (191 E. Jefferson St., Rockville, Md. 20850), according to the court’s official Web site.

Hopefully the courts will recognize this suit for the frivolous mess that it is.  And hopefully the disinfectant of sunshine will continue to shine on Kimberlin.

If you missed it, be sure to read Patterico's tale of intimidation.

Standing With Conservative Bloggers Against Kimberlin

I'm rather averse to posting things when I have nothing to contribute to the story.  I try to avoid being part of the echo chamber.

That said, I'm going to just point you to some others who are covering the story of Brett Kimberlin and his campaign of intimidation against Stacy McCain and others in the conservative blogosphere because I think it's important that people know who this guy is and what he's doing.

Start here, with this post by Patterico.  It explains who Kimberlin is and how dangerous he is.

Michelle Malkin has an excellent post on this story, too.

Check Stacy McCain's site, too.  He's now in hiding because of this Kimberlin person.  Stacy's posts can fill in some of the big names that have funded Kimberlin.

Both of these sites have multiple links that you can follow.

Check also Memeorandum for the massive aggregation of stories about this.

And you might note that the mainstream media isn't covering this at all that I can tell.

Like I said, I don't want to be part of the echo chamber, but this is different.  When a man has to take his wife and kids and move out of his home in order to feel safe then something is definitely wrong.

I'm standing with conservative bloggers in outing this guy.

Louisiana Welcomes Stacy McCain

Did you hear about the earthquake that hit Vanatu?

I'll let Stacy McCain tell the story but let me suggest that it might be a nice thing to do to go hit his tip jar today. Our meeting in Shreveport today didn't pan out as he encountered some, uh....complications in Livonia, Louisiana today as he was ... racing...toward Shreveport, and well, right now he's working his way toward Pineville for the Santorum event tonight.

I was looking forward to finally meeting Stacy but that's the way things roll sometimes.  Another time.

Tomorrow we're headed to Minden to finally pick up this Jeep we ordered the first week of February!

And so it goes.

Should Rick Santorum Quit the Race?

Pressure is mounting for Rick Santorum to quit the race; I can't figure out why nobody is calling on Gingrich to quit the race.  Seems to me Santorum is doing better than Gingrich in the overall count so why isn't the establishment calling for Newt to bail?

The Washington Post:

He lost the Illinois primary badly to Mitt Romney on Tuesday and, in the process, fell 300 delegates behind the former Massachusetts governor. And, adding insult to injury, former Florida governor Jeb Bush finally decided to wade into the presidential race on behalf of Romney on Wednesday, a signal to the Republican political world that primary race is at an end.

The story goes on to quote such luminaries as Bob Dole, Steve Schmidt and Haley Barbour who both think Santorum's time is nigh.

Schmidt:

“If Santorum runs a principled campaign and then concedes graciously then he has a big future ahead,” said Steve Schmidt, who managed McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. “If he runs a character campaign attacking Romney, then Santorum’s future is more limited.”

And Barbour:

“I’d argue Santorum should start winding it down,” said Henry Barbour, a Mississippi Republican National Committeeman and Romney supporter. “That would preserve the most options for him — serving in a Romney presidency officially or unofficially or possibly running again one day.”

Where are the calls for Newt to get out?  Last I checked, he was in third place.

The Louisiana primary is Saturday and Santorum looks to be in pretty good shape down here.  Rasmussen reports Santorum has a 12 point lead over Romney and Newt is a "distant third."

Santorum's schedule shows he will be in Monroe tomorrow at 10 a.m., in Shreveport at the Holiday Inn downtown at 1:15, and then he's off to Pineville for a 7 p.m. appearance.

Stacy McCain is on the road, somewhere in Mississippi when we spoke this afternoon, and headed toward Baton Rouge.  He's going to stop in at the Monroe event then head over to SIGIS-land to cover the Santorum events.  We have tentative plans to get together tomorrow afternoon, schedules permitting.

As for the Romney camp, they've finally announced a public appearance in addition to the invitation-only fundraiser he will attend at The Petroleum Club:

Romney is scheduled to hold an energy event at QEP Resources at 12202 Harts Island Road in Shreveport at 2:40 p.m, according to a media release from his campaign. The meeting is free and open to the public.  Romney is also scheduled to attend a fundraiser on Friday, the day before the primary, at the Petroleum Club in downtown Shreveport. General attendance will cost supporters $1,000 per person or $2,500 per person to attend the VIP photo reception.

Check back for updates.

Another "Perrybot" Response

I was at work this morning when I saw Stacy McCain's bitch-slapping post to the "Perrybots" and I couldn't respond at the time because, well, I was at work. 

Stacy, it seems, is aggrieved because Rick Perry's campaign burned through $20 million in his failed campaign.  Stacy, who was all for Herman Cain, by the way, is now on the Rick Santorum bandwagon; he seems to be harboring some resentment about his current candidate's cash raising status:

Just ask yourselves, Perrybots, what might have been possible if some other candidate — any other candidate, perhaps one who could remember how to count to three – had an extra $20 million to spend here in Florida. But no, you spent months telling the rest of us that Rick Perry was The Only Conservative Who Could Beat Romney, an argument you didn’t hesitate to repeat as late as December, long after it was apparent that he wasn’t ready for prime time. And you still refuse to admit that you were misled, and helped mislead others, into jumping aboard that hopeless Bandwagon to Loserville.

I'm quite fond of Stacy and I have great respect for his Shoe Leather Reporting; I link him often and have hit his tip jar several times, but he's dead wrong on this one.  Rick Perry had every bit as much right to run as did Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsman, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, or anyone else for that matter.  If he burned through $20 million then it was his to burn.  And the people had just as much right to support Perry as Stacy does his candidates of choice.

Troglopundit refutes Stacy's logic:

One need not be a “Perrybot” to see the logical fallacy McCain is making. To wit: “if Rick Perry hadn’t entered the race, somebody else would have gotten that $20 million.”

I dunno what’s in that pile, but it smells.

Short answer: no, neither Rick Santorum, nor Herman Cain, nor Michelle Bachmann, nor Thaddeus McCotter would have received that $20 million. A small proportion of it, perhaps. I’m speculating, but it seems likely that other candidates would also have received some of it. Therefore whatever financial impact this fictional Perrylessness might have had would be distributive in nature, and thus zero.

Perry had several large contributors who were likely donating for the sole reason that they liked Perry and his record of success in Texas.   Heck, I even donated to Perry (not millions!) but I haven't donated to anyone else as of yet.  In this little microcosm, my small donation would not have ended up going to Santorum even if Perry had never run in the first place.  I'd have kept it.

The fisking of Stacy continues with Wyblog:

Hey, Stacy McCain is a kick-ass gonzo journalist and all. He Knows Things. I'm just a random Polack from New Jersey. But it occurs to me that Rick Perry, a guy who's actually won elections and governed from conservative principles, might have gotten more traction if a certain gonzo journalist hadn't taken a flyer on the likes of Herman Cain, and in the process misled a whole lotta other folks into buying a one-way ticket on the 9-9-9 Restraining Order Express. Cain wanted to be president alright, just not President of the United States. More like president of Hooters, if you get my drift. 

How much cash did Herman Cain suck out of the Santorum coffers?   How much early traction could Santorum have gained had Stacy not been on the Cain Train?

Adrienne chimes in:

Well, who's sucking up oxygen now? 

Michelle Malkin has thrown her support behind Santorum.  I understand her reasons.  I like Santorum, too.  But I also believe that he is not going to be the nominee.  Neither is Ron Paul.

I think that in the end the only one making any sense here is Smitty:

The candidates all suck: get over it. 

Amen.

Remember, when Perry got into the race he was viewed by many as the savior from this stinkin' field of RINOs we have now; he'd never lost an election and had a track record (while not perfect) of conservatism and job creation in Texas.  Why was it wrong to support that, pray tell?

It was much easier to support that than to support a guy who lost a re-election bid in his own state.

As it is, the process is working.  We don't like the candidates, but it's working.  Perry faltered and he failed.  I hate it, but it is the way it goes.  Newt says he's staying in.  Mitt is staying in. 

Krauthammer sees Missouri as Santorum's chance to make a stand (February 7):

I think [he's] staying in. I think the real sleeper event could be in Missouri. Missouri doesn’t have any delegates. It’s only a beauty contest. But Gingrich isn’t on the ballot. I think for Santorum, this is his great opportunity. He’d be essentially one-on-one with Romney.

If polls are to be believed, Republicans need to stop eating their own and start focusing on Obama.  As it is right now, we're handing him four more years.

None of our candidates are perfect.  In fact, Smitty is right - they stink.  All of 'em.  But in the end, blaming the "Perrybots" and continuing the blame game won't win back The Oval. 

Truth is, there's no real conservative in this race and in the end we're going to have to do the same thing we did in 2008.  Hold your nose and vote. 

Let's just hope we don't get the same result.

In a Funk

I've been in a funk. 

It's not that I thought Rick Perry was a Perfect Candidate - he wasn't.  It's not that I thought he was the second coming of Ronald Reagan.  He definitely wasn't.

I'm just out of sorts with the process.  When Rick Perry dropped out only Iowa and New Hampshire had voted.  By the time Louisiana gets around to voting, we'll likely be down to just two candidates.  90% of the country won't get to vote for the candidate they want but will have to chose from the candidate a handful of states have deemed worthy. 

Oh, I know, national polls and all that.  I'm still just in a funk because I don't like any of the remaining candidates.  I'll get over it. 

If you are interested in the South Carolina primary, Stacy McCain is running some great coverage over there at The Other McCain, even if he is drinking a Blue Moon.

As for me, I engaged in some estate sale therapy to ease my woes.  There was an estate sale in an old year 1921 home on Kings Highway today that was filled with gorgeous heavy antique furniture.  I wasn't in the market for any of that but I picked up this pretty jadeite candy dish:

I love the creamy green color of jadeite.  It's be great filled with chocolate covered espresso beans! 

I also got this neat framed Remington print "Fight for the Waterhole."  It'll look good in Steve's man-cave:

I also got a neat white and blue enamelware square piece with a lid.  It's seen better days but I thought it was unusual and I wanted it:

It's about six or seven inches square. 

My shopping didn't get me completely out of my funk but maybe the voters in South Carolina will cheer me up a little.  I'm not sure how, but maybe. 

Mittens in third place might do the trick.

"Is it still a lousy deal? Of course."

I've been unable, through a variety of interruptions, to blog anything of political substance today, however, Stacy McCain has not had that problem.

Be sure to read this post if you don't read anything else today, in which Stacy channels Hunter S. Thompson and goes on an anti-government "we got screwed" rant of immense proportions. 

Don't miss it.

Trolling the Blogs on Thursday

A little Thursday afternoon blog cruising while we're waiting to see how long Obama stays at the negotiating table this afternoon...

Donald Douglas writes about the Leiby Kletzky murder.  It really is a terrible and haunting case and strikes a cord with all parents, I imagine.  I can't imagine what his parents are going through.  Donald writes:

I think parents need to go with their instincts, especially if they've got young kids. A couple more [years] of hovering ain't gonna harm a child. Frankly, in this day and age, I think families let kids off the leash a bit too early anyway.

I agree.  Kids are so eager to be independent and broaden their boundaries.   And why does it make it worse for me that this child had autism?  Because he was possibly more vulnerable?    Looking for small things to be grateful for, I'm glad the killer confessed.  At least maybe we'll be spared the circus that was Casey Anthony.  I hope they nail this guy and don't screw it up.

Changing gears, Stacy McCain has a post up in which he elaborates on a point I was attempting to make yesterday about the greatest flaw in Obama's presidency is that, as we all predicted, he has no experience in dealing with a crisis.  What he is now facing with the debt crisis is not something he would have ever faced as a community organizer or in teaching a constitutional law class.  Stacy writes:

Go through Obama’s resume and try to find when he was ever in a position of executive authority, responsible for making tough decisions about budget matters, especially in a situation like this, where spending must be cut or else.

Read the rest.  It's a linkapolooza of a post and worth your time.

I've also been sort of struck today at how "Obama is a liar" has been the meme of the day:  first Ann Althouse, (via Memorandum) who is troubled at Obama's use of his mother's struggles right before her death to push (read:  manipulate) emotion for his health care plan:

"This is the standard response of the memoirist: These are my memories. This is how I remember it. Even if I am mistaken, there is truth in the way this story has become part of me. (That notion is expressed beautifully in the interview at the end of the audiobook version of the thoroughly delightful "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir.")

But I don't accept that the President could have an innocently false memory about this story, which he milked dramatically..."

I'm reminded of James Frey and his brouhaha with Oprah after he was caught fabricating details in A Million Little Pieces.     Obama's faulty memory (was it really faulty?) carries much more serious consequences, of course.  It means that the president intentionally deceived a) in order to sell books and/or b) to manipulate the emotions of the American people.  It's troubling.

Also in that meme was Rep. Joe Walsh who posted this video on his YouTube channel in which he says:

"President Obama, quit lying," said Congressman Walsh. "You know darn well that if August 2nd comes and goes there is plenty of money to pay off our debt and cover all social security obligations. And you also know that you and only you have the discretion to make those payments."

Strong words.  Echoes of Rep. Joe Wilson.  I certainly don't agree with most everything Obama says and freely speak out against his policies, but I do think it probably lowers the level of discourse when Congressmen call the president  a "liar" on You Tube.  It goes both ways, though.  Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have done their fair share of trash talk.

Okay, after all that, pop over to Saberpoint and read his favorite pirate joke.  We all need a laugh!

Shocker: David Brooks Declares Republicans "Not Normal"

When you're on the same side of the field as Steve Benan, you know you're not a conservative:

Brooks went on to say that the conservatives who dominate the GOP “do not accept the legitimacy of scholars and intellectual authorities,” “have no sense of moral decency,” and “have no economic theory worthy of the name.”

This is pretty tough language for a conservative columnist. Indeed, it’s the kind of language that can help change the conventional wisdom about the nature of the talks themselves.

Benen is, of course, responding to this column by David Brooks in today's New York Times.

And the fisking by Stacy McCain begins in 3...2...1....

(H/T:  Memeorandum)

"Brooks should be wrapped in bacon and dumped into a tank full of hungry sharks"

Stacy McCain takes David Brooks to the woodshed in response to his weekly column in which Brooks lambastes Republicans:

You can read the whole thing, which I think you will agree constitutes conclusive proof of the utter uselessness of David Brooks. From time to time, as a sort of accidental consequence of the Law of Large Numbers, Brooks will criticize liberals from a conservative perspective — the blind pig finding an acorn, as it were. Yet when push comes to shove, Brooks habitually tries to push Republicans toward a Democrat Lite agenda of Big Government. 

It gets better:

His erudition and facile recitation of policy details lends an aura of seriousness to his arguments. He constantly rehashes the political obstacles to implementation of a limited-government agenda (which are real enough) as a way of suggesting that such an agenda is an impossibility. And if, as Brooks says, a meaningful reduction in the size, scope and expense of the federal Leviathan is a non-starter, then conservatives who argue for limited government are either naive or dishonest.


This is a perfidious accusation of bad faith, and for this baseless slander, Brooks should be loaded aboard an Air Force C-130 and air-dropped over Afghanistan without a parachute.

Read the whole thing. It's brilliant.

No Flame Wars Here

The blogosphere is such a funny place, and I do mean that it a good way.

Back in early 2009, when my blog was about six months old and my blogging savvy quite raw, I found Bill Jacobson's Legal Insurrection blog.  I don't remember how but I'm guessing it was through Stacy McCain's blog which I found by reading American Spectator, but that's a whole 'nother story, as they say.

So I found Legal Insurrection, liked it, and linked it.  But not very well:

Legal Insurrection is another great blog I've just discovered, full of quick, newsy bits and links. Love his quote from the Paglia comlumn!

My oh-so-breezy-style ruffled Professor Jacobson's feathers:

Quick, newsy bits and links? My dear, why not just drive a stake through my heart? Must you mock me for all the world to see? Why not just say, "I just discovered this loser blogger who doesn't have the time or intellectual strength to lift anything more than links and news tidbits."

....and the blogosphere was on the verge of a serious Rule 4 Flame War.

Somehow, I apologized, Stacy invoked peace...

• Some DirtyBlonde Chick: "Legal Insurrection is the greatest blog I've ever seen. It is full of insightful commentary . . . I laughed! I cried! It was better than 'Cats'! TWO THUMBS UP!"
• Professor William Jacobson enjoys a quiet cigarette afterwards.

... and all was well.

Or not?

Last night, in response to my "I'm so tired" whining, Professor Jacobson wrote:

Let me guess, you worked the fields all day, so you don't have the strength to push down on the keyboard with your bloodied, swollen fingers?

He was, of course, mocking himself and his own burnout stories.  A few of his readers, whom I now ADORE, took up for me and now....the clarification.

Who am I to argue with a tireless and indefatigable blog goddess...

That whole "blog goddess" thing?  That would be me.  Thanks for clicking over, LI readers.  We're all friends, here.

Where are my cigarettes?

Stacy Hits 5,000,000!

Congratulations to Stacy & Smitty who hit 5,000,000 today! 

It couldn't happen to a nice couple of guys! 

Meanwhile, I'm still working toward the 200,000 mark.  Yeah.  Some days are like that.

In Which I Post The Ag Commissioner Ad and Properly Hat Tip Stacy McCain

I didn't blog much this weekend; I'm just digging in mentally and getting through this last week and a half of school.

I have been reading my blog buddies though, and I saw Stacy post this ad, which is now everywhere:


It caught my eye when Stacy posted it because I'm not ALL THAT far from Alabama and stuff like that interests me.  So I made mental note of it.  Then what do you know, there it is much later on Hot Air by AllahPundit without so much as a hat tip.  There's even a Memeorandum thread on it.  I was reminded of Stacy's oft repeated refrain, "Allah hates me."

Stacy updated his post as others linked to the ad, or also posted the video, and he noted Allah's lack of hat tip.

The reason I even mention it is because Stacy said...

Although I don’t do the atavistic blood-vengeance enemies-list thing — it’s too much hassle to keep track of all the people who’ve screwed me over – I must occasionally point out how I get screwed over, just so that my peers in the Chopped-Liver-Sphere know that they’re not alone.

Solidarity is very important in the Legion of the Doomed. Otherwise, we might become even more demoralized than we already are.

...which I appreciated because, well, everyone gets screwed out of hat tips.  I've posted breaking or novel stuff before and, following Rule 1 of How to Get a Million Hits on Your Blog, will mail it out, then get skunked.  It sucks, but what are you going to do?  You can't waste time being mad.

Anyway, it's a cool ad for Ag Commissioner!  ;)

On another note, we finished watching The Pacific last night.  The series  started out sort of rocky but I tried to keep the faith that it would pick up and redeem itself in the end.  It did.  Loved it.  What heroes those young men of that generation were.  Good Lord.  Incredible stuff.

I'm off to work.  Have a happy Monday and remember to hat tip your blog friends when you use their stuff.

Random Thoughts for Thursday

Random thoughts for today:

The WSJ has the story on Obama's backup plan should his larger health care initiative fail. It includes things like expansion of current programs and keeping your kids on your policy until they're 26 years old.

The summit starts at 10:00 ET and will run the entire time I'm at school so I'll miss every bit of it. Keep an eye on Potluck - probably somebody over there will be updating things. If you can't watch it, Twitter is usually the fastest way to find out anything, though! I'll have something on it this evening.

Today is Steve's birthday! I can't tell you how old he is, but he's older than he was in this picture, but still just as handsome.

On the reading table, be sure to catch Andy McCarthy's piece at NRO today about Guantanamo. It couldn't be more clear that closing the joint is a lame move.

There's a lively discussion going on at The Shreveport Times in the comments regarding the Hummer deal falling through; Hummers are manufactured here.

Stacy McCain is endorsing J.D. Hayworth over John McCain for Senate and did I mention Stacy and Smitty were featured in GQ and NOT for his Speedo. Seriously. He's even a thread at Potluck, now. God help us.

Off to work now, kids. Check back later.

The Politics in Popular Fiction

I can see I'm going to have to run over to my local Barnes & Noble this week and pick up a copy of Game Change. The book by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin describing the 2008 presidential campaign is the hot topic right now.

And it sounds darned interesting! Marc Ambinder has some gossipy details here, including Harry Reid's "no Negro dialect" which had everyone in an uproar yesterday.

I read a lot of non-fiction, but every once in a while I throw some popular fiction in there just for a break. I just finished Sara Paretsky's Hardball yesterday. She's not as prolific as some authors and it's been a long time since I read one of her V. I. Warshawski novels, but I've always enjoyed them and Paretsky spins a decent mystery tale, as a rule.

I had some issues with this book though. By the time I reached page 44 there had been at least three references to Barack Obama, some veiled, some obvious: one in the introduction as Paretsky recalls her own early political activism: ('We thought change for good was not only possible, but near at hand. Lately, my long-dormant sense of hope has come back to life.")

Page 26, Paretsky's detective, Vic Warshaski, visits a client where "Martin Luther King, Jr.'s and Barack Obama's portraits hung on either side of the wall-mounted television...". And on page 44, Vic says of a Chicago politician that he was "as photogenic as John-John or Barack."

So by this point, I'm thinking, okay, maybe I'm overly sensitive to this - let it go. One of the characters is a young, handsome, rising Chicago politician, so maybe these references are part of the story. It's understandable. This character is possibly being groomed "for a post-Barack Obama presidential run" (p. 167).

But after a while I felt beat over the head with them. There are lots of anti-government references as well. By the end of the novel, Vic is being watched by Homeland Security to the point that she has to go on the run. There is much editorializing about the Patriot Act ("We think we're so safe here, and yet my own government is spying on me" (p. 260).

And there are plenty of shots at the torture debate as one of the characters is revealed to have confessed to a crime he didn't commit after being tortured by corrupt police officers: "Given the climate of torture cultivated by the U.S. Department of Justice in recent years, some cops apparently felt they had no reason to hold back on their own forays into 'extreme rendition,'" (p. 433).

In the end, it seemed to me a lot of needless politicizing in a popular fiction novel. It felt preachy.

As soon as I finished the book I picked up Robert Stacy McCain's book with Lynn Stewart, Donkey Cons. I figured, if I'm going to read about politics, it might as well be non-fiction.

A Comment on Booze-Blogging

Stacy McCain is booze-blogging this morning. Well, not really, but he's taken on the subject of booze snobs and touches on how the internet has affected the booze business.

I'm with Stacy in that I usually avoid wine and whiskey. There are occasions where I deviate from that rule, but not many. But talk to me about beer and I can go the distance with you unless you want to get all into the intricacies of microbreweries and then I'll call you a snob. Like Stacy, I abhor beer snobs, and snobbery in general.

For a moment there I thought Stacy might be calling me a snob when he said:

Beer snobs get on my nerves. It pains me to see these poseurs pestering a bartender in quest of some obscure imported premium ale -- dark as sin, with the flavor and texture of a peat bog -- just so their friends won't see them drinking a Bud.

To me, beer snobs are those microbrewery idgits who know where every microbrewery in the country is, what their last rank was at the latest beer festival.

Lord knows I've enjoyed my fair share of Bud Light, Miller Lite and other watery domestics, but once I discovered the richer tastes of the dark German beers, it was all over. Now I am one of those folks at the bar asking the bartender for what "dark as sin" beer they have so that I don't have to drink a tasteless domestic. Steve and I have Sam Adams Octoberfest hoarded in quantities to last me well into next spring.

Does that make me a snob? No, probably not. Stacy seems to be saying, and this is my rationalization anyway, that those are "poseurs" and only trying to impress. Not so in my case. I could care less who I impress, as anyone who takes a look at my fashion choices will tell you. No pretensions here. You probably won't find me on the internet trying to find the latest fashionable beer, Veblenian theory or not.

So, while I adore Stacy McCain, we must sadly part ways when we belly up to the bar because while he says "a beer is a beer is a beer," I have to differ. No more watery domestics for me unless I have no other choice. As a Corona man, I think Stacy might possibly agree (even though I think Corona tastes like equine urea). I guess I am a snob.

Stacy Fights Back

Hallelujah - Stacy McCain is fighting back! A most excellent letter, sir!

An excerpt:

Dear Sir:

Your Oct. 7 editorial, "Palin Book: Already No. 1," contains factual errors which are defamatory and potentially libelous, to wit: "In 2006, Vincent teamed up with white supremacist Robert Stacy McCain to write a shrill book titled Donkey Cons: Sex, Crime and Corruption in the Democratic Party . . ."

Leave it to critics to judge whether or not Donkey Cons is "shrill" -- I suspect your editorial writer has not bothered to read it -- and ask yourself what authority there is for your assertion that I am a "white supremacist." Were this true, it would certainly come as a surprise to my numerous colleagues and friends, who are quite a panorama of diversity.

In the fourth paragraph of the aforesaid editorial, your writer was at least clever enough to cite two authorities for this defamation...

Go here and read the rest!

It's My Blog-Father's Birthday

It's Stacy McCain's birthday - the big 5-0. Go by and say something!

And since my 5-0 was two weeks ago, I'm technically older than he is. What does that get me? Nothin'.

Have a great birthday Stacy!

Rachel Maddow Attacks Stacy McCain

[Scroll down for updates]

Rachel Maddow on Meet the Press this morning, called Robert Stacy McCain a white supremacist. I'm thinking she's been listening to Charles Johnson a little too much.

The panel was discussing the Sarah Palin book, Going Rogue, when Maddow offers her criticism of Lynn Vincent, Palin's ghostwriter. Maddow explains that Lynn Vincent "co-authored a book with a guy who is widely believed to be , and I believe him to be, a white supremacist. So she's [Palin] chosen Lynn Vincent who has written a book with a white supremacist to write her book." Robert Stacy McCain and Lynn Vincent co-authored Donkey Cons: Sex, Crime, and Corruption in the Democratic Party in 2006.

Slide on over to 8:00 for the quote.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I'm just going to second my friend William Jacobson who defended Stacy McCain back in September when this meme started. I've read NOTHING in Stacy's works to support such an accusation and it seems to me that Maddow just lowers the level of debate when she spews trash garnered from Charles Johnson.

Was it necessary for Maddow to slander Stacy McCain in her attack on Palin's ghostwriter? I don't think so.

It's a nasty, damaging attack to label someone as a "white supremacist" and it shows that Maddow has sunk lower than I even thought her able to go, which was pretty low.

Update: Here's the entire exchange, in context, (emphasis mine) from the Meet the Press transcript:

MR. DIONNE: But she'll sell a lot of books.

MR. MURPHY: No, she will sell a lot. I'm, I'm going to buy it. I'm going to wait for it to get spell-checked, but then I'm going to buy it.

GREGORY: Right. And she's number--I should point out, I mean, number one on the best-seller list for Amazon.

MR. MURPHY: Yeah. No, no, look, she has a constituency. She'll never be the nominee, I totally agree with David. I agree with Steve Schmidt, it would be actually a disaster if she was the nominee. I do wish my friend Steve felt that a year ago when a lot of people were asking John McCain to put her on the ticket. But the truth is--and I'm going to agree with David here, too--the noisiest parts of kind of the conservative media machine have far less influence than the mainstream media machine that covers the Republican world thinks they do. These radio guys can't deliver a pizza, let alone a nomination. And you can case study that out in the last election. So I--the question is whether or not our party will learn, when we have a pretty good midterm victory due to Obama's mistakes this time, that turning up the volume is not the reason that we're going to do well, I believe, in the midterms. And the fact is to get all the way, there are a lot of things we have to do to modernize conservativism to be successful.

MS. MADDOW: I, I do think that there's a little bit of reckoning that needs to happen on the right for Sarah Palin's success. I mean, she was the vice presidential nominee, she is going to sell a kazillion books and she is the biggest brand name in Republican politics still right now. And she's chose--the person who's writing her book, her last--the last person who she co-authored a book with was called "Donkey Cons" and it was co-authored with a guy who's widely believed to be and I believe him to be a white supremacist. So she's chosen Lynn Vincent, who's written a book with a white supremacist, to write her book, and she's the biggest name in Republican politics.

MR. MURPHY: Oh, but, Rachel...

MS. MADDOW: And you can dismiss her and say she's not going to be the nominee, but I do think the right needs to sort of answer for what's happened to conservatism.

MR. MURPHY: But let me just say, I am a well-documented nonfan of Sarah Palin, at least as a national politician. I don't know her personally. But that's guilt by association stuff. That's the cable stuff. That's the problem.

MS. MADDOW: But why would you--you can pick anybody to be your ghostwriter.

MR. MURPHY: Sarah Palin's a lot of things, but she's not a white supremacist. And...

MS. MADDOW: You could--no, I don't think she is. But when you can pick anybody, why would she pick somebody who's associated with the League of the South, who said that Americans are revolted by the idea of having a black sister-in-law. I mean, she--this is who she picked to write her book.

MR. MURPHY: Yeah, but there's...

MS. MADDOW: Why do you do that?

MR. MURPHY: That's sort of guilt by association stuff, which I don't know and it can--I--check it out.

MS. MADDOW: It's guilt by choice. It's guilt by choice.

GREGORY: OK.

MR. MURPHY: It is, is so, so not important to the central questions in the country right now. But that's what cable TV has become, so I...

MS. MADDOW: Sarah Palin's popularity is a central question in the Republican Party right now.

GREGORY: Quickly, E.J.

MS. MADDOW: And you can make fun of her, but it doesn't make it go away.

MR. DIONNE: Forget guilt by association. Governor Rick Perry may win a Republican primary because he talked about secession. You haven't had somebody win an election on secession since 1858.

MR. MURPHY: Yeah. E.J., I can tell you...

MR. DIONNE: There's a radical strain in the Republican Party. It's not guilt by association, it's right out there.

Update 2: Robert Stacy McCain responds.

Stacy McCain is Going to Kentucky

Stacy McCain is now accepting donations to fund his trip to Kentucky in an attempt to bring some decent, honest journalism to the story of the murder of Bill Sparkman (pictured left).

The Sparkman case has the internet all abuzz and rampant speculation is in full swing. Stacy McCain placed a couple of phone calls to Kentucky and found that, hell yeah, they're concerned about what some morons are writing on the internet. Professor Jacobson attempted to point this out earlier in the week as well.

Nobody knows anything much for sure at this point and irresponsible speculation doesn't help anyone. As McCain points out, Sparkman at least deserves some respect (he was a veteran reporter in Florida for a decade).

I'm not going to repeat the goofy speculation here; it's out there for you to find if you really want to. But I will say that for Andrew Sullivan to suggest that what happened to Sparkman is the result of "Southern populist terrorism" is well...beyond the pale. WTF is that, anyway?!

So far everyone from Glenn Beck to Michelle Bachmann has been blamed. How long before they throw Sarah Palin in the mix? Or I have I missed that one?

How about everyone take a break and let the police sort it out? And help Stacy get to Kentucky!

(More at Memeorandum)

(Photo credit: The Ledger)