Spock Beard Day

The episode introduces the alternate reality "Mirror Universe" concept in Star Trek for the first time. The episode has a transporter mishap swapping Captain Kirk and his companions with their evil counterparts in a parallel universe. In the so-called Mirror Universe, the Enterprise is a ship of the Terran Empire rather than the United Federation of Planets, promotions are earned by assassination, and Mr. Spock has a goatee. ~Wikipedia Entry for "Mirror, Mirror"

Yesterday, I called Jim Wooten reasonable.

Icarus recommended everyone read Jay Bookman.

Today, Erick Erickson advocated rail.

Welcome to the mirror universe.

My Morning Wooten and My Afternoon Jay

A rare occasion where the boys are writing on the same topic - the Hank Johnson Health Care Town Hall.

And it's pretty obvious who was there.

On the rare occasions when things started to get out of hand, it was usually because Johnson — ignoring his own event rules — began to respond directly to things shouted from the audience rather than to questions by citizens who took the time to wait in line and ask questions. In fact, those who booed most loudly and responded most vocally in the audience generally didn’t take the opportunity to stand and ask questions directly to the congressman. And once the respectful tone of the meeting was set early, more than a few of the more vocal opponents simply left.

And who wasn't.

Meanwhile, constituents in Congressman Hank Johnson’s district all get smiley faces for good behavior. They have behaved as police authorities and the politician’s organizers desired. An organizer who runs his constituents through metal detectors at a public policy debate is afraid of the people he serves. That is not America.

Jim, as a southern gentleman, you should know better than most that an invitation in my home does not provide you the privilege to drop trou and pee on my carpet. The rules for Hank Johnson's Town Hall were fairly straightforward and fair - no signs, no demonstrations from the audience, questions would be answered during the designated time period and if you were disruptive you would be booted. Despite these apparent draconian rules, both supporters lustily cheered and booed many times (and occasionally cat-called) without dire intervention by the authorities.

Only twice did the police step in.

Once wasn't seen by most. It happened as the assembly was concluding. Four young people who obviously supported health care reform, sporting packing tape over their mouths, stood in front of the army of television cameras. An officer quietly asked them to go outside and they complied.

The more widely reported ejection happened during the question and answer session. While constitutents patiently queued at the two microphones, a young man began shouting questions from the audience. When it became apparent he refused to shut up, officers did tap him on the shoulder and ask him to leave. That's it. That's all. Except later, outside, when he and his friends stood around chortling about how they disrupted the event and were going to be on the news.

No one wants to see a public gathering devolve into a riot and people with whom I spoke, on both sides of the issue, seemed pleased the structure resulted in a conversation instead of chaos.

Something Jim would have known if he had got off his semi-retired butt and provided his readers with some context instead of simply regurgitating the out of context partisan canards of the day.

My Afternoon Jay

He don't like "cash for clunkers".

The “Clunkers for Cash” program never made sense in the first place, at least as it was enacted. The alleged environmental “benefits” were largely bogus, the taxpayer subsidy was much too generous and its benefits were too narrowly targeted to the automaking industry and to those Americans in a financial position to think about buying a new car or, given the program design, a new truck or SUV.

Hey CB? How's the Jay-hatin' these days?

Here is a perfect example of why I don't write very often about Jay. Most of the time I agree with him (like this time) and it's awfully hard to find creative ways to say "yep, he's right". And, unlike my morning constitution known as Wooten, Jay, dare I say, frequently goes full bore contrarian against type. And that tickles me a bit.

Awfully tough to peg him with the liberal tag when he calls environmental benefits bogus and a tax subsidy too large. What next? Saying unions overreach their purpose?

My Afternoon Jay

Would we all wade so deep in the minutiae if it were something about which we did not care so deeply?

Now, Jay Bookman is taking Karen Handel to task over those pesky voter database searches.

So, casting the state’s policy in the best possible light, Handel’s approach may have found as many as 30 illegal voters. But that is far outweighed by the invalidation of hundreds of legal votes cast by U.S. citizens, and by the fact that thousands of additional citizens were effectively discouraged from voting by additional obstacles put in their way.

Hundreds.

Thousands.

You know I expect this kind of stuff from Cynthia Tucker, but despite CB's howling, I expect a little more sense from Jay.

One of the problems with the left's arguments about these purges is even when they're right (which technically Jay is), they end up making people shrug.

Jay has a valid point that ultimately the database search produced somewhere between 30-300 potential voter fraud cases. As has been said before, Handel is using a sledgehammer to kill a fly.

But in explaining how he arrived at that number, Jay presents the breakdown of how many voters were actually affected by these database queries.

About 4700.

Out of 4 million around 600,000.

That's .1% .5%

But that's not all. What was required of those 4700?

They had to go down to the registrar's office before the election and show proof of citizenship.

Wow. That sounds tough. So tough, that 2000 actually passed through the struggle and accomplished the task.

So what happened to the other 2700? Well, 600 showed up and were required to complete a challenge ballot. They were also required to show citizenship within 48 hours. Amazingly, 370 were able to accomplish this monumental task.

So what is the final tally? About 2300 people out of 4 million were arguably disenfranchised from their right to vote.

But too often this is the way of things with liberals - if ain't perfect, we gotta pursue it with a thunderous righteous fury. And I guarantee you, sometime in the next week, when I am arguing with one on this very subject, even if I agree that there is some injustice, when I point out it is a fight they will never win because people will see those numbers as absurd, they will still angrily disagree and search for another windmill to stab.

CORRECTION: As Sara pointed out in the comments my numbers were off because I was doing vote totals from the last election instead of new registrants during the last cycle. The numbers above reflect this change. But as I indicated in the comments, it does not change the figures so drastically that my perspective or point has changed.

My Morning Wooten

Don't have to go very far for the solution of today's riddle.

His willingness to cozy up to Venezuelan leftist Hugo Chavez, schmoozing at the Summit of the Americas, while accepting a book from Chavez explaining how Europe and the U.S. had messed it up in Latin America. The little revolutionary, thus, levated himself not just to equal, but to instructor to pupil Obama.

Let's amble down the hall to Jay Bookman's place.

So if Obama is Chavez pupil, was Richard Nixon Mao's BFF?

Bloggy

Something new in media land! Actually I should clarify. Something I just noticed in media land. It could have been there for a while and I just sped right past.

Wooten and Bookman have blogrolls. Sort of.

They both have something called "Favorite Sites"

Here's Bookman's:

Talking Points Memo
Abu Muqawama
Peach Pundit
Over The Monster
Eschaton

And here's Wooten's:

realclearpolitics.com
instapundit.com
powerlineblog.com
americanthinker.com

Edifying. Kudos to Bookman for throwing a line to a local.

My Afternoon Jay

The liberal media conspiracy is at it again!

An irrelevant Republican Party does no one any good. It isn’t good for the Republicans, obviously, and over the long term it also isn’t good for the Democrats, who need an effective opposition to keep them in line.

Wait a minute. Oh well. Back to picking on the conservative.

My Afternoon Jay

A new feature!

How do you like the title?

Jay Bookman has finally been dragged into the sloppy little world of blogging and all I can say is thank God! I've alway thought Bookman's style was perfectly suited for a blog and was sorely disappointed when I heard he was reluctant.

I will admit that there probably won't be as much Bookman as there is Wooten because even though he is slightly left of me, I agree with him most of the time. Also, he's far less strident than his counterpart.

That does not mean I will not task him when it is deserved.

Does “real America” drop 75 grand at Neiman Marcus? Does “small-town America” shop at Saks Fifth Avenue?

Now, Ms. Palin did set herself up for this punchline with all the latest, greatest right-wing us against them populist rhetoric. But first, there's the real world fact that until we get past certain social silos and practicalities in fashion spurred by those mores, women will face the insidious double standard of being required to spend more money and time to appear "appropriate".

More importantly, the entire thing is just another stupid distraction along the lines of such tangential issues as associations with Ayers and Wright.

Can we take a moment to stop talking about the shiney things and instead focus on things that really matter.

Wait.

I was torn about even posting on this story, in part because it’s only natural that Palin and her family would need a wardrobe upgrade to play the parts they’ve been handed on the national stage. Washington ain’t Wasilla.

Is that a tinge of regret? Well, Jay, at least I can say this is something you rarely see in my morning giggings.

And welcome to the community.