Wo'C Update 2Oh, and speaking of bright, shiny young conservatives, remember Katie Kieffer, the girl who was inspired by Ann Coulter? Well, English Teach, who blogs at The Great Minnesota Progressive Newswire, has a nice review of Katie's career to date, including her stint as a high school columnist for the Pioneer Press. Here's a bit from it:
Well, Peggy Noonan used to think that gardeners were "retards with spades," but nobody could call her serious. Anyway, it seems that Katie wasn't really a deep thinker back then either. Teach also gives us Katie's profile from the paper, which includes this part:
But nothing about listening to talk radio all the time. I guess she was saving that big revelation to lauch her Townhall career, as one of you indicated. Anyway, Teach has a lot more good stuff about Katie. Read the whole thing. Teach also provided us some info about the mysterious "Conservative Student News, Inc." that funds Katie's paper, the St. Thomas Standard. It seems that said CSNI is registered as a non-profit corporation. The application was filed in August 2003, and the address of the corporation is Katie's parent's house. So, either Katie's parents are funding her little paper, or, more likely, a group like YAF's National Journalism Center had her set up a corporation in order to hide their funding, so that it would look like the paper was the work of some plucky young people instead of being just another product of a conservative foundation that pays college students to mouth the party line. Anyway, it will be interesting to see if the paper continues to be fundied by CSNI after Katie graduates this spring. (Or if it continues at all.) Oh, and English Teach also has a good post about TARS Babies, Minnesota's Teen Age Republicans. It seems that they have a new website that is chock full of helpful advice:
Kids, the man is just trying to keep you down! Fight the power!
Maybe you have had an incident where a girl refused to go out with you, or where a bully stole your lunch money -- or perhaps a cheerleader said catty things about you behind your back. These are futher examples of liberal bias against conservative thinking. Report them all the Senator Michele Bachman. She WANTS TO HEAR THEM! 9:12:35 AM  |
ReminderMy new American Street post is up. It's about the Tom DeLay benefit dinner. I hope you like it. 8:02:39 AM |
The Battle of the Bens:Who Will be Crowned "America's Youngest Syndicated Virgin"?August, the genius behind Xoverboard, suggested that we check out the Campus Progress piece that everyone has been talking about (you know, the one by Ezra from Ezra Klein). And I was glad I did, because not only does it discuss two of our favorite young people, Ben Shapiro and Kyle Williams, but it also introduced us to a great, new, young conservative virgin, one Ben Ferguson. So, I thought it would be fun to compare the two Bens, and see which one is the best. 1. Here's a bit about BenF, courtesy of RadioAmerica
Let us now review part of 20-year-old BenS's Townhall bio:
So, they're both the nation's youngest syndicated something, They both were teen prodigies. And they're both young conservatives, and thus very rare and precious. So far, we have a tie in the battle of the Bens. 2. Now, let's find out about their conservatism, and obnoxiousness. First, BenF.
Now, BenS.:
They're both unafraid to be jerks. They're both always challenging nasty liberals. They both are proud of the fact that nobody likes them. I'd say we still have a tie. 3. So, let's look at their books. Ben F's. is called It's My America Too : A Leading Young Conservative Shares His Views on Politics and Other Matters of Importance. It came out in September 2004, was published by HarperCollins, and is currently ranked #387,860 on Amazon's best-seller list. Here's part of the publisher's description:
Um, I can't say that I've ever wanted to know what Ferguson will say next, and I don't actually know what he's said so far, but thanks for this chance -- I really appreciate your confidence in me!. Anyway, here are some excerpts from a couple of the the reviews:
Ouch! Now, let's review the facts about Ben S's book, Brainwashed: How Harvard Law School is Holding Me Against My Will. It came out in May 2004 (published by Nelson Bibles). It's ranked 9944 by Amazon. It doesn't appear to have been reviewed by any of the major reviewing services (at least, I can't find any mentions of it, if it was), so here's part of the most recent Amazon customer review, by one Albert L.:
So, per this reviewer, Ben S. has outlined the problem, but is too chicken to advocate the solution: firing all the professors, burning the books, and sending the students off to Iraq. (Yeah, I can see why Ben would have a problem with that last one.) But just having Albert agree with Ben's premise says a lot. Scoring: BenS won in book sales. BenF had a real publisher. It's a tie in bad reviews. So, I call this round another wash. But wait! I just learned that Ben S. has written another book! His second one is titled Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism is Corrupting Our Future. It won't be out until June, and is being published by Regnery. Here's the description:
BenS has been doing first person reporting on porn?!? I therefore declare that he has won this round, despite the fact that Regnery spelled his name wrong! 4. Now on to our last category: virginity. BenF has a whole chapter about his virginity in his book, as noted in that Publisher's weekly review, which even notes that people laugh at him for it. Ian McGibboney read It's My Country Too, and here's part of his his commentary on it.
I have to say that BenF has pretty solid virginity creds. Can BenS compete with that? Well, he wrote a column entitled "From virgin to tramp" about how Britney Spears used to be a virgin, and became a tramp by kissing Madonna at the 2003 MTV awards. Yes, claiming that one loses one's virginity by kissing is good, but we still need a personal declaration of virginity if BenS's is going to be competitive with BenF. Luckily, he's made one. Here is is, as captured by TBogg (It's the last piece on the page --go read it). Anyway, in Ben's declaration, he is is discussing our friend, the singular -- and imcomparable -- James C. of The Rittenhouse Review:
Hmm, I have to say that BenF seems a whole lot more comfortable about his virginity than BenS is (plus, BenF didn't make any jokes about bestiality, and hasn't been researching porn). So, I'm going to give the points in this category to BenF. Now for the scoring (so to speak): the Bens are both the youngest young syndicated something; they are both obnoxiously conservative; BenS has written two books to BenF's one, winning him that category; and BenF is the more cheerful virgin. Therefore, I declare this battle a tie. I wish both of the Bens good luck with their future endeavors, and wish to remind them that the homeschooled Kyle Williams is way younger than both of them, and may turn out to be a better Ben than either of them. P.S. I find it quite amusing that per Barnes and Noble, people who have purchased BenS's new book about porn, have also bought the following books:
I'm sure BenS will be very happy to see that his book has already found a niche among the the pot-smoking, hippie perverts of this country. 7:59:19 AM |
Wo'C Updates: Part 1As we told you yesterday, Bill O'Reilly mischaracterized a Houston Chronicle editorial, and then topped things off by reading a quote that came from some other source. On Thursday, the Chronicle ran another editorial, pointing this out -- they called their piece "The No Facts Zone.' As Bugs Bunny was prone to say, " Bill started today's program by admitting that yes, Tuesday's Chronicle editorial didn't actually SAY that they thought that the punishment for sex offenders mandated under Florida's new Jessica Lunsford Law was too harsh, but that after reading the piece, he thought that's what they meant. He even asked, "What else could they have meant?" Well, Bill, I read the editorial too, and it's pretty clear what they meant: that this law, although it makes people feel good, won't keep Florida's children safe, because most children who are molested aren't abused by convicted sex offenders. I think the subtext to their piece is: "If it makes you happy, go ahead and lock up convicted for 100 years, but if your goal is to make kids safer, don't abandon some of the low-tech options, such as teaching children to recognize and report abuse." Bill also admitted that he did read a quote that didn't come from the Chronicle editorial, and that was "wrong," but the Chronicle is a liberal paper, and therefore is going to hell anyway. Well, he didn't exactly say that last part, but since he immediately brought in a guest, Dan Patrick, to discuss just how liberal the paper is, that seems to have been his point. Dan Patrick is the publisher of a blog, the Lonestar Times, which was started with the purpose of blasting the Chronicle for its liberal bias. He was the only guest for this segment (Bill said that the editorial writer from the Chronicle was too chicken to be on the show, which is apparently Bill's way of being fair and balanced). So, it looks to me like the point of this segment was to bash the the Chronicle for making him look stupid by pointing out that he screwed up. Oh, and Dan apparently made his own misstatements about the paper, but since he 'fessed up too, it's like it never happened. Anyway, it's nice to see that Bill has another archenemy, since there's nothing that makes him feel more alive than using his show as a bully pulpit to denounce those who catch him in error (or lies). 4:25:40 AM |
From AMERICAN STREET:
DeLay Scandal is God’s Fault?
Well, that seems to be the latest conservative talking point. Here’s the story, courtesy of the Washington Times (emphasis added):
But even though God has sent them the Chosen One in answer to their prayers, the wingnuts aren’t through bothering Him, because now they want God to smite Tom’s enemies. (Or maybe just give Tom a cloak of political invincibility, or something.)
Per the article, those 900 conservatives paid $250 each (or $2000 a table) to attend the tribute to DeLay. What will the $200,000 or so be used for? The article doesn’t say, but I’m guessing it’s to bribe some members of the congressional ethics committee. (Or perhaps to buy Hot Tub Tom some hookers to take his mind off his troubles — but since Tom’s wife was there, the committee had to be discreet.)
And just for fun, let’s briefly review the Oliver North scandal: he was guilty of violating congressional orders banning the sale of weapons to Iran, and giving aid to the Contras. He lied to Congress. He was indicted on sixteen felony counts and convicted of three: accepting an illegal gratuity, aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and destruction of documents. His conviction was later vacated on the grounds that immunized testimony was used at his trial. So, North was guilty of the crimes that led to the “scandal,” but got off due to a “technicality.” And then he later went on to become a Fox News personality.
Therefore, what I think that Brent is saying is: even though DeLay is guility of all the charges against him, Ollie’s story proves that we don’t execute people for accepting illegal gratuities, and so Tom will survive, and will go on to be a weather girl or something.
More than 900 conservative leaders and activists gathered to praise House Majority Leader Tom DeLay last night, with several thanking God for the Texan’s role as the engine of the conservative legislative agenda.Um, guys, maybe next time you might want to consider praying for a leader who was good looking, principled, and ethical. Just a suggestion.
“The leadership of the conservative movement all of my life has prayed for a leader like Tom DeLay, and I’m here today to publicly thank God for answering my prayers,” said Paul M. Weyrich, president of the Free Congress Foundation.
But even though God has sent them the Chosen One in answer to their prayers, the wingnuts aren’t through bothering Him, because now they want God to smite Tom’s enemies. (Or maybe just give Tom a cloak of political invincibility, or something.)
“The message of tonight is, ‘if they pick a fight with Tom DeLay, they pick a fight with all of us,’ ” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, who also used his benediction to ask that God protect Mr. DeLay from political attacks.Hey, that world peace thing will just have to wait until God finishes protecting Tom DeLay, because that’s what’s most important.
Per the article, those 900 conservatives paid $250 each (or $2000 a table) to attend the tribute to DeLay. What will the $200,000 or so be used for? The article doesn’t say, but I’m guessing it’s to bribe some members of the congressional ethics committee. (Or perhaps to buy Hot Tub Tom some hookers to take his mind off his troubles — but since Tom’s wife was there, the committee had to be discreet.)
Mr. DeLay’s wife, Christine, told the audience about meeting her husband in high school — “there was this really hot guy, he was so cute” — and that she had to ask him out the first time.But then he told her how much she could make working on his campaign, and she was sold! (An added perk was that she could see that really hot guy from high school whenever her husband was out of town.)
She also shared her reaction when he told her he was running for the state legislature in Texas: “I think my first comment is ‘That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.’ ”
While most of Mr. DeLay’s jokes were directed at his Democratic opponents in Congress, the other speakers blamed the press for the questions facing Mr. DeLay.Actually, if you search for “Tom DeLay” and “scandal” you get only 221,000 matches. In order to get near the figure quoted by Brent, you have to search for “delay” and “scandal,” which gives you not only info about Tom’s little lapses , but also “matches” such as “Justice Department granted White House delay on order to preserve records in CIA exposure scandal.” (Kids, I think this is a perfect of example of the kind of media research done by Mr. Bozell and his center.)
L. Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, said a Google search produced 833,000 matches for Mr. DeLay’s name and the word “scandal.”
“This is a media out of control in their commitment to bringing down this man,” Bozell said, questioning the ethics of reporters. But he compared Mr. DeLay to other prominent conservative figures like Oliver North, and predicted that like them, Mr. DeLay would survive.Yeah, it’s the reporters who lack ethics, not DeLay, because those damned journalists keep writing stories that use the words “delay” and “scandal.”
And just for fun, let’s briefly review the Oliver North scandal: he was guilty of violating congressional orders banning the sale of weapons to Iran, and giving aid to the Contras. He lied to Congress. He was indicted on sixteen felony counts and convicted of three: accepting an illegal gratuity, aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and destruction of documents. His conviction was later vacated on the grounds that immunized testimony was used at his trial. So, North was guilty of the crimes that led to the “scandal,” but got off due to a “technicality.” And then he later went on to become a Fox News personality.
Therefore, what I think that Brent is saying is: even though DeLay is guility of all the charges against him, Ollie’s story proves that we don’t execute people for accepting illegal gratuities, and so Tom will survive, and will go on to be a weather girl or something.
Some joked that it could be worse.Hey, if Tom worked at it just a bit more (and wore a miniskirt), he could be just as hated as Ann. It’s good to have goals.
“Nobody has yet put a pie in your face,” said Phyllis Schlafly. “I guess your enemies don’t hate you as much as they hate Ann Coulter.”
May 13th, 2005 at 7:08 am
May 13th, 2005 at 8:20 am
May 13th, 2005 at 9:13 am
The Bozell thing was great. The whole thing was great. And you got me by surprise with the “really hot guy from high school” thing. I’m still laughing.
May 13th, 2005 at 10:11 am