Oddles of links…
First of all, there is another lot of Stories up over at Hermit the Crab. It’s the XXX version and guaranteed not to be as bad as the film of the same name. Gullyblog is hosting Carnival of Cordite. Bestof Me is up in all its glory as well. Carnival is up over at Conservative Edge.
A 23 year old woman from Sardinia wants you to read her blog, and Nickie Goomba is pointing us all there.
WICA.org has become Witchology. Go take a look at the new site. And guess what? Leo is blogging.
Two Star Wars funnies
Mitch & Co on the Now show have a bit about drinking in space, and Star Wars features muchly. It is probably one of the best Now shows I have heard.
Next up, Yourish has an interview with Darth Vader, and he is not happy with the MSM. Via Damian.
Comments are off for this postFashion Victim
he’s a victim of his own time
in his vintage suit and tie
he’s casualty dressed to the teeth
in the latest genocide
“We are watching the birth of a hybrid man. ... Why not put on a pink-flowered shirt and try out a partner-swapping club?” asked [French marketing and style consultants Nelly Rodi’s managing director Pierre Francois] Le Louet, stressing that the study had focused on men aged between 20 and 35.Sociologists and other experts spent three months analyzing some 150 magazines and books and 146 Internet sites, as well as interviewing a dozen experts from Europe, the United States and China.
The traditional man still exists in China, Le Louet said, and “is not ready to go”. But in Europe and the United States, a new species is emerging, apparently unafraid of anything.
“He is looking for a more radical affirmation of who he is, and wants to test out all the barbarity of modern life” including in the sexual domain, said Le Louet . . .”
Methinks about the only “barbarity of modern life” he’s going to be testing out in that getup is the business end of a glory hole.
Comments are off for this postNJGOP according to Sean
Upon further review, the short-term conclusion is that the NJGOP is a broken battered party with no real consensus. One-third of the GOP primary voters, including myself, cast ballots for candidates that had no realistic chance of victory. James Kelly, one of the Democrat fringe candidates who currently resides in a group home for the mentally ill, received more votes than the bottom three GOP primary candidates. Whether that speaks to what Democrat primary voters were thinking or the inconsequential impact of these particular GOP candidates is another debate.
Bret Schundler lost about 100,000 votes from his 2001 total, a devastating and likely final defeat for a guy who deserved a better fate. In the end, Bret did it to himself by the lackluster, one note campaign he conducted. Lonegan’s 22,000 votes may have been more than the margin of victory, but in the end Bret lost a lot more votes over the last four years than could have been ever taken away from Lonegan.
So what about Lonegan? Where does he go from here? He has established himself as a bomb thrower and a thorn in the side of GOP candidates. It is rather telling that he considers it a “victory” that he attained enough votes to prevent Bret from winning. Attitudes like that will lead to defeat. The shame of it is that any issue coming out of his mouth—good or bad—will lose legitimacy because of his caustic manner.
The general consensus is that John Murphy performed well and that he set himself up for a future run. I completely disagree with this assessment. Murphy had an opportunity to take advantage of two flawed front runners and combine engaging personality, geographic base, and traditional conservative policy. The policy arena is where Murphy bombed. By endorsing expansion of the current rebate program and continuing a failed agenda of arbitrarily pouring money into so-called failing schools and cities, Murphy staked no new ground and invited the scorn of columnists such as Paul Mulshine, who is regular reading for conservative policy types who tend to vote in GOP primaries. Murphy could have been the candidate to straddle the so-called moderate-conservative center of the GOP. An opportunity lost.
We may have seen the last of Paul DiGaetano, unless one of the District 36 GOP candidates suddenly has to withdraw from the race and the party needs a replacement. With the 2002 Bob Torricelli precedent, this is not out of the realm of possibility. Stay tuned.
Bob Schroeder had the best food at his campaign events, but when the most substantive item of your campaign is your hair that is not a lasting legacy.
In the absence of a candidate who provided a broad vision combined with some coherent public policy, I voted for the guy who attempted to come close to this ideal. Although Todd Caliguire came in last, he offered more substance in the three page executive summary of his plan than the other candidates did throughout the primary season. I said his fifteen minutes were up, but his campaign—as low octane as it was—earned enough injury time to merit my vote. As another voter told me, the 7,200 people who voted for Todd likely took the time to read his plan and compare with the other candidates. Too bad it wasn’t enough.
So where do we go from here…
I’m not optimistic about November. Forrester is an echo. He “borrowed” the Assembly GOP property tax plan, a flawed redux of previous Trenton concocted schemes. Corzine is pretty much using the same themes of fighting corruption and increasing rebates, facts be damned. This race will come down to labels because there will be no significant policy differences. Since the Dems start out 300,000 voters ahead, a Corzine win is likely.
As for the party, a consensus has to emerge. Who is the Republican Party in New Jersey? What defines a conservative? Is “moderate” just a word for liberal or someone who feels uncomfortable discussing social issues that may embarrass them with their friends? There are plenty of pro-life “moderates” in the party, such as Chris Smith, Peter Inverso, Mike Ferguson, et al. Conversely I know of many voters who are raging right-wingers on issues such as immigration, taxes and the budget, but are pro-choice on abortion.
The real question is not who wins in November… but what becomes of the NJGOP?
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