How dare someone say that?

Mark Steyn looks at the hissy fit thrown by the media over the member of Donald Trump's audience daring to questions the President's loyalty.
And frankly, whatever the President's personal faith, there is no dispute that his leadership of the western world has been an utter catastrophe for Christians around the planet. Some of the oldest Christian communities on earth have been entirely extinguished on Obama's watch: in Mosul, Iraq, which was an American protectorate on the day he took office, not a single Christian remains. Every single one of them is dead or fled. So, instead of jumping through your preposterous hoops and speaking up for the most powerful man in the world, I would rather speak up for the powerless - for the Nigerian schoolgirls, for the Yazidi, for the Copts in Egypt, and for all the other beleaguered Christian communities in the world this feckless president has set alight and watched burn.

Facebook quote of the week

I'm starting to see friends of friends change their profile pics to a "stand with PP" overlay graphic, and FB tells me that some of my friends like that. A question that runs through my mind (which I won't ask friends of friends, but I might ask my friends) is "Why not stand with PP by donating your own money, rather than demanding that the government give them mine?"

All I want for Christmas

Can I get one of these? Powerline gave me the idea.

Saturday song

For the day that features post number 10,000, why not a song by 10,000 Maniacs?

One zero, zero zero zero

We've reached a big milestone for the blog.
Post number 10,000.
It took just under seven years to get there.
So if it takes another seven to get to 20,000, we are talking about 2022.
Yikes.
Let's get started.

Who's to blame? Not me

Ace posts the latest denial by the Obama administration - problems in the world are not our fault.
They must have been reading Family Circus lately.

Enjoy your treat

For our recent hard work, the company offered a treat for employees today.
I wondered what it could be.
Maybe four of the bosses would dress like the Beatles and sing.
I'd worry if they sang "Eight Days a Week."
They might say it's our new work schedule.

What did you do that's going to last?

Powerline enjoyed the CNN interview with Hillary Clinton Thursday.
What exactly did you do in four years as Secretary of State?
With the sound up, you will endure a smidgen of condescension to discover that Madam Hillary “rambled about what she thought of the debate for 47 seconds until she finally provided a canned answer about her accomplishments that included a plug for her 2014 memoir Hard Choices.”
After completing her windup, Madam Hillary pitches her “negotiat[ing] a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas” and “the coalition that led to international sanctions against Iran.”
The sanctions against Iran?
The sanctions that couldn't hold, leading to current bad deal?

Weekend watchdog

Sixteen NASCAR drivers have three races to survive and advance.
The Chase of the Cup begins Sunday at 3 p.m. on NBC Sports network at Chicagoland Speedway. Matt Kenseth posted his fourth win of the season last Saturday at Richmond, putting him atop the leaderboard with Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch.
Jeff Gordon made the chase in his final competitive season, and hopes to still be in contention when the final flag drops at Homestead in November. Race qualifying will be Friday at 6:30 p.m., with final practice Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Xfinity series hits the track Saturday at 6 p.m., after qualifying Saturday at 2:45 p.m.
The Truck Series runs Friday at 8:30 p.m. on FoxSports1 with qualifying at 4:30 p.m.
NBC Sports network has the Singapore Grand Prix Sunday at 7 a.m. There's practice Friday at 9:30 a.m.
The Redskins host the Rams on Fox Sunday at 1 p.m., followed by Cowboys-Eagles. The Ravens try to bounce back in Oakland on CBS at 4 p.m.
Seattle visits Green Bay on NBC Sunday night, then the Jets take on the Colts Monday night on ESPN.
The college weekend continues in the ACC Friday as Florida State heads to Boston College at 8 p.m.
Michigan State meets Air Force on ABC Saturday at noon. Miami meets Nebraska at 3:30 p.m., with some parts of the nation watching Ohio State-Northern Illinois while ESPN2 carries the alternate game. In primetime, Stanford faces Southern California.
LSU tangles with Auburn on CBS at 3:30 p.m. and NBC carries Notre Dame's contest with Georgia Tech at 3:30 p.m. Fox brings Texas and California at 7:30 p.m.
ESPN starts its day at noon with Connecticut's visit to Missouri. South Carolina tangles with Georgia at 6 p.m. and it's Mississippi-Alabama at 9:15 p.m.
North Carolina heads to Illinois at noon on ESPN2, then Texas Tech takes on Arkansas at 7 p.m.
Oklahoma battles Tulsa on FoxSports1 at noon, with Texas-San Antonio facing Oklahoma State at 3:30 p.m. and it's BYU-UCLA at 10:30 p.m.
Comcast has action from the CAA Saturday, with Delaware-Villanova at noon followed by James Madison meeting Albany.
ESPN2 offers high school football between Mississippi's Wayne County and Archbishop Rummel of Louisiana Friday at 8 p.m.
The Orioles head to Tampa Bay on MASN2, while the Nationals have a series with the Marlins on MASN.
The Mets and Yankees battle Saturday at 1 p.m. on Fox and Sunday night on ESPN. Fox also offers Cubs-Cardinals Saturday, and the series closes Sunday at 2 p.m. on TBS. The Tigers and Royals meet on FoxSports1 Saturday at 7 p.m.
Chelsea clashes with Arsenal Saturday at 7:30 a.m. on NBC Sports network, and it's Manchester City against West Ham United at 12:30 p.m. Southampton faces Manchester United Sunday at 11 a.m.
D.C. United plays Columbus Saturday at 7 p.m. on Comcast. ESPN carries Portland against the Red Bulls Sunday at 5 p.m. and Houston plays Philadelphia at 7 p.m. on FoxSports1.
The United States women and Australia play an international friendly on ESPN2 Sunday at 3 p.m.
The PGA tour has its BMW Championship on NBC Saturday at noon and Sunday at 2 p.m.
It's conference semifinals time for the WNBA. The Mystics play game two of their series with the Liberty Sunday at 1 p.m. on ESPN, then it's Minnesota-Los Angeles at 3 p.m.
The FIBA Eurobasket final will be Sunday at 1 p.m. on ESPN2.

Documenting the disaster

Megan McArdle uses her tech background to remind us how the exchanges websites were designed for failure.
There was no other option.
This system had to be built in three years, and moreover, it could not be built the way Silicon Valley would do it: start small, roll something out, see what works and what doesn’t, then iterate, experiment, and scale until you finally arrive at the site you wanted to build. No, this site had to work on Day One, in every state in the nation that declined to build its own exchange. That was a very tall order, and no one seems to have given it much thought. Even when a manager in CMS tried to get the administration to scale things back, officials refused, and apparently simply failed to consider the possibility that trying to do too much would mean they ended up with nothing at all.

Belle of the ball

Carly Fiorina got her bounce from Wednesday debate.
And probably her comment that NBC Nightly News used Thursday.
They showed her talking about Planned Parenthood, and the latest video showing a live baby (fetus for you abortion supporters).
Then NBC mentioned how Planned Parenthood said it was selectively edited.
Which part?
The beating heart?
The kicking legs?
The people hovering around, waiting to extract parts?
The more people see the Planned Parenthood videos, the harder it should be to ignore.
Unless your heart is already hard.

Not mad about you

The debate was on the home turf of Roger L. Simon, so the Mad Voter went to event and offers his thoughts.
But someone, or ones, did win the debate and  since I’m supposed to be the Mad Voter, I guess I should reveal my picks.  But in this election most of all, that may prove to be irrelevant.  We all see everything simultaneously almost no matter where we are.  Why would any pundit or commentator know more than his or her readers or viewers?  I mean they (we) can pretend we do — it’s good business, after all — but we’re as clueless as anybody else.  Don’t believe me? Well, check the comments.
WINNERS:  Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio. They both sounded smart and authoritative, assuming that matters.  (It should.) Carly got in some zingers and I think by the time the third debate comes along, she may have expectation problems, the bar will be so high.  (Cruz is supposed to be the hot-shot debater, but he looks fairly ineffectual by comparison.)  Rubio — although I know this freaks out some commenters — is likely the future of the Republican Party, either now or in 2020.  Fellas, get used to it.

First question of Democratic debate

When the Democrats finally gather in October for their first debate, what will be the first question?
"What do you think of Donald Trump?" is the even-money favorite.
Especially if it's a CNN debate.

Preparing for Trump's spin

If debate questioner Hugh Hewitt stumps Donald Trump with a foreign policy question, what can Trump say?
"Hugh Hewitt? He's a Cleveland Browns fan.
"How can you trust the judgment of a guy who likes such a bunch of losers?"

Get on the bus, Gus

Would you pay extra to ride to work in a luxury bus?
Not enough people in San Francisco did.
So you can buy one of the busses the company hoped to use - real cheap.

Sanders and the college crowd

Bernie Sanders has gained popularity for talking about making college free.
College students like the idea.
If it could happen, it would take a few years.
Today's college students wouldn't get the benefit.
They would be taxpayers watching their money go to others.
Are they still going to be supporting the idea then?

It will make your head spin

Are you ready for the best debate ever?
There will be so much winning.
It will make your head spin.

Battle stations

Donald Trump has a speech Tuesday on the U.S.S. Iowa.
He wants everybody to know he has the big guns.
Can't wait to hear the Morning Joe crew swoon Wednesday morning.

Ready to rumble

Less than 24 hours until the next Republican debate.
How will Donald Trump do?
How will the others go after him without getting in trouble themselves?
Since Trump spent plenty of time in Atlantic City, I'm sure he knows the example of Muhammad Ali.
He could slug it out with Joe Frazier in the "Thrilla in Manila" and do the rope-a-dope to beat George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle.
I think Trump will be ready for whatever comes out Wednesday.

Still standing

DaTech Guy sees Kim Davis standing strong through the turmoil over her beliefs and her job.
Kim Davis retains both her elected position and her freedom of conscience. She has been able to force the very compromise that the left was unwilling to consider less than two weeks ago and the precedent is now set for Christians to refuse to participate in mortal sin that risks their soul without costing them any elected office they hold.

Thinking about the Trump years

If you can imagine Donald Trump winning a Republican primary, then he can win the nomination.
If he wins the nomination, we can become President.
What would that be like?
Trump wouldn't be able to do much of anything without the assent of Congress. But that Congress would likely be tilted towards him, given the composition of the electorate that would have to turn out in order to elect him.
Also, he's rich. He is less likely to feel the tug of special interest politics than just about anyone in the race. He will always be more beholden to his image, and to his core message, than he'd be to any donor.
And that's why, if he's elected, he would probably slow down and moderate. The crucible of a presidential campaign changes candidates. It is humbling. It is hard. It is exhausting. Trump might seem like his expensive suit has a coating of Teflon on it now, but that's simply because his opponents haven't yet discovered what his political vulnerability is. It's there, because he's human.

Not a day at the beach

Finding this family photo, I remembered that not every day at the beach is a day at the beach.

So you're saying there's a chance?

There's three weeks left in the baseball season.
The Baltimore Orioles remain under .500, but won two games against the Kansas City Royals this weekend.
I'm not planning on postseason baseball this year, but they haven't given up hope yet.
Check back next week.

It will be a bumpy ride

This weekend's polls bring continuing news of high support for Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.
It is the year in the western world of the “un-politician.” The establishment, or the elites, or whatever you want to call them have just about exhausted whatever influence and power they wielded over ordinary citizens due to a nauseating combination of incompetence, cronyism, and corruption. Alex Tsipras in Greece, Pablo Iglesias in Spain, Jeremy Corbyn in Great Britain, and Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump in America — these men are connected by their outsiderness, their disconnect from the power structures that have failed the masses so spectacularly.

Life on the Beltway

In politics, we talk about inside the Beltway and outside the Beltway life.
I think we can learn a lot about both while driving the actual Beltway.
My trips from Fishersville to Baltimore gives me the choice of driving the Capital Beltway or avoiding it to the west.
Saturday, I avoided it and found I made the smart decision.
There was an accident near the American Legion Bridge on the western side, which created a major traffic bottleneck.
Sunday, I headed south.
I figured Sunday afternoon should not be a big time to try, with the Redskins playing.
There was nothing major, but a few slowdowns that taught some lessons.

1. People will make mistakes that cause you inconvenience.
2. Looking at other's mistakes doesn't speed the process.
3. Anticipate that there will be problems, and be relieved if there's not.
4. You would think people would learn from past mistakes. But they find new ways to make mistakes.

Life may be a Sunday drive at times.
If only everyone tried to make it easier for others.

Understanding Kim Davis

DaTech Guy knocks down those comparing Kim Davis to George Wallace.
She's not seeking power like other Democrats.
When ordered to jail, she didn’t put on a show, she went to jail and when released during the middle of a rally in her support (a rally used by at least one presidential candidate to showboat a bit) rather than talking politics or anything of that nature she praised God while her lawyers, speaking to media stated that she would not be doing anything different to violate her conscience:
Doesn’t sound very Wallace. In fact, instead of political opportunism that’s a classic example of civil disobedience. Violate law, take penalty. That’s how it works.

Saturday song

Donald Trump and Dee Snyder have agreed we'll be hearing more of this song.

Facebook quote of the week

$1.89 a gallon for gas at Sam's!

Internet inspiration

Tablet tells the story of Danny Lewin, likely the first victim on September 11.
And his idea kept the information flowing.
In America and all over the world, people desperate for accurate information turned to the Internet for news. Straining under the overwhelming demand of tens of millions of simultaneous requests, the web’s biggest news sites threatened to collapse. Very few did, thanks in large part to the technology that Lewin himself had developed years earlier: Although only 31 at the time of his murder, he was the co-founder of Akamai, a pioneering technology company whose content routing solutions enable the seamless flow of nearly 20 percent of the web’s traffic.

The art of Trump's deal

DaTech Guy sees how Donald Trump has tailored his campaign for the electorate we have.
I think Trump has watched the Obama years carefully, I think he saw the methods and has seen how the electorate has changed. He is using those very same methods today, both to “Trump” the media and to “Trump” his opponents.
That Trump, being a master salesman and dealmaker is approaching the presidential campaign as a deal & sale to be made makes perfect sense. He has studied the customer base he wants to sell and is acting accordingly.