Atlas Shrugs

I love Ann Coulter

I just watched Ann Coulter on Hannity and Colmes and she is all that and a bag of chips. She makes no excuses for the schoolyard term.

I may have read too much into the remark or maybe she is scary smart. But her usage of the word faggot is the one we used when I was in grade school. We used to call a kid a faggot that was totally, utterly uncool. Like Wolcott. A loser. You know those kids - the one that ratted you out, or loved being  the hall monitor, the one with the short pants.

She said John Edwards is a wuss, a pussy, a waldo, a geek, a putz, a faggot. He is. She said if he was gay it would have been an epithet, but he is married with children so how can it be an insult?

When asked what she thought of the three presidential candidates apologizing for her remarks, she smirked, why should they apologize for me?  Barack Obama showed spine when he wouldn't apologize for David Geffen's remarks. And, she said, those same presidential candidates are going to be doing a lot of apologizing for her  in the coming year.  Ha!

I disagree with Malkin when she said, "with a single word, Coulter sullied the hard work of hundreds of CPAC participants and exhibitors and tarred the collective reputation of thousands of CPAC attendees." Let's be straight here, nobody was even talking about CPAC until Coulter entered stage right. Now it's all they are talking about.

My point is I hate how the right has completely thrown her under the bus. She is a brilliant, beautiful, acerbic, bright light of the right. The right can't run fast enough the other way. Seems to me they are a bunch of  faggots as well.

Gratuitous blog candy. Book signing June '06

UPDATE: Here's the video of  Coulter on Hannity, click here.

UPDATE: Check out The Washington Times here;

CPAC fallout
    Ann Coulter's use of a vulgar epithet for former Sen. John Edwards, North Carolina Democrat, continued to elicit harsh rebukes yesterday, including one from fellow pundit Michelle Malkin, who attended the 34th annual Conservative Political Action Conference, where Miss Coulter made her Friday speech.
    "There are countless conservatives who bring their children to CPAC. It's a family-friendly event," Mrs. Malkin wrote at her Web site, www.michellemalkin.com. "We expect CPAC to be a place where conservative role models speak with clarity, passion and integrity. There are enough spewers of mindless filth, vulgarity and hatred on TV, at the movies and in the public schools. We don't expect our children to be exposed to that garbage at the nation's pre-eminent conservative gathering. ...

    "With a single word, Coulter sullied the hard work of hundreds of CPAC participants and exhibitors and tarred the collective reputation of thousands of CPAC attendees. At a reception for college students held by the Young America's Foundation, I lambasted the substitution of stupid slurs for persuasion ... and urged the young people there to conduct themselves at all times with dignity in their ideological battles on and off campus."

One blogger who refused to join the online chorus denouncing Miss Coulter was Pamela Geller Oshry.
    "The right side of the blogosphere has completely distanced themselves from her," Mrs. Oshry wrote at her Atlas Shrugs blog, www.atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com. "Everyone is shocked, shocked I tell you. Yawn. ... The left's position was made clear by [Massachusetts Sen. John] Kerry's mentioning of Dick Cheney's gay daughter during the presidential debate in 2004."

Yeah baby

UPDATE: BTW, I think this is completely and utterly wrong. Out of control. I don't recognize us. When did we lost our self confidence? This is an organized lynching. Banishing Ann? Have we gone fookin nuts?

UPDATE; I will be discussing this on BlogTalkRadio show tonight. Call me on it (347) 996-3944

ISLAM: SANTORUM WARNING AT CPACSECULAR ISLAM SUMMIT

I could not stay the whole of Saturday so of course I kicked myself for missing Santorum who has been sagacious and prescient on the fatal threat of Islam as a political  ideology. He campaigned on it and lost. A daring truth teller lost asnd a ghost,  a virtual nothing won.

Santorum spoke and I was fortunate enough to have Atlas reader Michelina send it to me. You remember Michelina (she is with me here - scroll.)

Santorum lays out the way on Islamofascim in this speech. Listen to it here.
Download SantoumCPAC07-0001.mp3

For those having trouble with above download, try this

Download SantoumCPAC07.mp3

It's an important speech. Listen to him describe this war.

UPDATE: Speaking of fighting the great fight, Jim is at the Secular Islam summit in Florida, He has great coverage here.

Ragnar (gotta love his pseudonym)over at The Jawa Report is there too.

Quote of the Day (so far)

Richard Miniter, in response to an audience question as to whether anyone from the U.S. State Department was attending the Secular Islam Summit:

"If there were anyone from the State Department here, that would reveal an uncharacteristic level of intelligence on their part."

CPAC: Lightening Bolton's Speech

"If we can't persuade them [other countries], that's just too damn bad," Bolton said, drawing a standing ovation.

Still trying to track down Bolton's  speech on  video. I can not begin to understand why this was not even a blip on the media radar. Cliff Kincaid obviously heard what I heard here;

Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton received a sustained standing ovation Thursday night, as he told a national conference of conservatives that 'reform' of the United Nations had failed and that the U.S. has to assume a radically different approach to funding the world organization. He called for an end to 'assessed contributions' to the U.N. and urged a completely voluntary system of paying for the activities of the world body. Bolton's proposal leaves open the distinct possibility that an objective assessment would determine that it does not deserve one red cent in ¡°voluntary¡± support from American taxpayers.

Bolton Says U.N. 'Reform' Has Failed

The out-of-control nature of the world organization is reflected in the fact that the U.N. fund has grown to a staggering $37 billion, and that John Kerry¡¯s equally liberal sister Peggy still runs non-governmental organization (NGO) affairs at the U.S. Mission to the U.N. Technically, Bolton, when he was U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., was her boss. But he couldn¡'t fire her because she is part of the permanent bureaucracy. Peggy Kerry has held the position of NGO liaison at the U.S. mission during the entire Bush Administration but took time off during the 2004 presidential campaign to solicit votes for her brother.

The situation is dire. Unknown to most Americans, because the major media treat the U.N. as a sacred cow deserving more money, an international tax on airline travel is being collected, under the guidance of Ira Magaziner of the Clinton Foundation, and a global carbon tax amounting to 35 cents a gallon of gas is coming. Senator James Inhofe has led efforts to withdraw U.S. funding to the world body if it continues advocating global tax schemes on the American people, but Senator Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wants to provide even more money for U.N. peacekeeping operations.

As Bolton pointed out in his remarks Thursday night to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the U.N.¡'s system of ¡°assessed contributions¡± on member states already amounts to a tax on the America people. He pointed out that, under this system, a majority of U.N. members, who collectively pay just 0.3 percent of the U.N.¡¯s budget, can order the U.S. to pay 22 percent or more. On top of that, the U.N. is receiving billions from rich liberals such as Ted Turner.

Most people think the U.S. ¡°contribution to the U.N. amounts to a couple billion dollars a year. But Senator Tom Coburn has documented that the U.S. funded portion of an annual U.N. budget of $15-$20 billion amounts to between 25 and 30 percent. Under Bush, funding for the U.N. system has grown from $3.1 billion in 2001 to $5.3 billion in 2005.

Free to speak out, since his resignation in the face of the refusal of a hostile Senate to confirm him, Bolton told CPAC that former U.N. chief Kofi Annan was incompetent and should have been fired. Annan was allowed to retire when his second term as U.N. Secretary-General expired. He was replaced by South Korean Ban Ki-moon, a big backer of the international airline tax and other such schemes, usually dubbed ¡°solidarity contributions¡± for global purposes. 

Referring to increasing reliance by the Administration on the U.N. to solve the problems in North Korea and Iran, Bolton reminded the audience of President Bush's comments on stopping rogue states from developing nuclear weapons. Strongly defending the decision to remove Iraq¡¯s Saddam Hussein, Bolton suggested that Bush was running the risk of not being taken seriously in foreign affairs by appearing to back away from tough action, including possibly a military response, in regard to the other two members of the Axis of Evil. He said the word of the President was at stake, leaving no doubt as to what he thought the President had to do. Bolton offered no apologies for a strong U.S. foreign policy that targets emerging threats and strikes our enemies before they attack us.

The enthusiastic reception for Bolton demonstrated how the issue of American sovereignty¨Dand U.S. involvement in the U.N.¨Dhas emerged as a critical issue for conservatives.

There's more here. And you can click here to listen (difficlut to hear buit worth the struggle.)

Photo:Former UN Ambassador John Bolton, right, reacts to applause as he is introduced at the Conservative Political Action Conference dinner in Washington, Thursday, March 1, 2007. At left is Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association.

UPDATE: Newsmax has more here;

The United States is the only country in the world that can restrain Iran and North Korea, and it should do what is necessary no matter what the world thinks, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said Thursday.

"If we can't persuade them [other countries], that's just too damn bad," Bolton said, drawing a standing ovation.

Bolton said the U.S. should work to convince other nations of the importance of securing the world against dangerous states. But at the same time, America cannot allow itself to be immobilized if others fail to appreciate contemporary challenges, Bolton told the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C.

At a time when the Iranians have been "thumbing their noses" at the Europeans over the nuclear issue, the U.S. must keep the military option on the table, Bolton said.

"I do take President Bush to be a man of his word, and when he says it is unacceptable for Iran to have nukes, what he means is that it is unacceptable," Bolton said.

He also expressed a desire to see the Stalinist regime in Pyongyang "eliminated" and the Korean peninsula united in freedom.

At a time when the Bush administration's policies are under siege, he said, conservatives must be mindful of attempts underway to "dispirit" them ahead of the 2008 election cycle, Bolton said.

Liberal media are working to convince conservatives that they cannot possibly win the next presidential contest, when this is not the case, he argued.

Conservatives should respond by "putting the lie" to notions circulated in the media that the administration has been hopelessly discredited and that a Democratic victory in 2008 is inevitable, Bolton said.

Atlas Vlogs CPAC

**********A SHORT BUT CLASSIC ATLAS MOVIE*******

If you missed Bolton's speech, listen here.  It was historic and the best thing I saw at CPAC. It was that impressive . One for the ages. I am still trying  to track down the full video of lightening Bolton's speech. But  listen to the audio. I insist! You will be tested and you will thank me.

Bluey wrote here;

Bolton, meanwhile, gave a moving speech about the role America must play in the world and the challenges we face from enemies. The most rousing line in the speech was his quip about firing Kofi Annan — something he wishes the UN had done while Annan was still in charge.

Bolton also went out of his way to sincerely thank the supporters who wrote letters to Congress, called their senators and did whatever was asked of them to support him during his confirmation fight. Unfortunately for Bolton and the American people, it wasn’t meant to be. Fortunately for us, Bolton isn’t giving up the fight for America.

. Grabbed this off Free Republic here.

Starting with Iran, Bolton said that the United States is the only nation in the world capable of dealing with Iran’s nuclear weapons program. “That’s not unilateralism,” said Bolton, “that’s leadership.”

Bolton seemed greatly relieved to be out of the UN, though he mentioned his disappointment at not being confirmed to the ambassador’s post there. But free of diplomatic constraint, he ripped at the institution and its former Secretary General, Kofi Annan, who Bolton said – to the cheers of the crowd -- “…should have been fired for incompetence long ago.”

On UN reform, Bolton said we have achieved very little. To actually reform the UN, he said, the funding of it must be changed from the “assessed dues” system. Now the U.S. pays about 22% of the UN’s budget. Stack that fact to one side. Consider then, Bolton said, that of the 192 members of the UN, 97 are a majority. And of the lowest-paying 97 UN members, all 97 of them pay a TOTAL of 0.3% of the UN’s budget in assessed dues. Place that aside the US contribution and you find that we pay about seventy times as much to the UN as a majority of its members.

Bolton said that we should only pay what we wish, not what the UN says we owe: “pay for what we want and demand we get what we pay for.”

John Bolton Urges White House to Not Act 'Limp-Wristed'

Bolton Says US Should Seek `Regime Change' in Iran

Interview With Vice-President Cheney here:

QUESTION: Now, moving to North Korea, you've heard your friend John Bolton has said that this deal is a huge mistake and rewards bad behavior. Do you think that John Bolton has a point? Answer here

Back to CPAC -- little time to reflect but certain things I am sure of it. McCain's absence speaks volumes. He is soooo over.
Somewhere in Washington, DC A Conservative Political Action Conference Is Missing An Idiot

Brownback had a group of cheerleaders following him around chanting BROWNBACK BROWNBACK BROWNBACK. It's too early for any of this IMAO. My candidate hasn't arrived but if I am wrong and this in indeed the field of candidates, then the race is Romney's or Giuliani's to lose.

As far as Coulter's out of the left field "faggot" remark goes -- it may have been a poor choice of words but further Atlas investigation reveals John Edwards campaign has a mostly gay staff and rumors about his sexuality are rife. Just for knowing.

The fact is if there is any true to these rumors, that perhaps Edwards is gay, shouldn't we know that?  Shouldn't we know if this man is deceiving his wife, children, country and living a lie? Shouldn't we know if a man that represents the party that celebrates gay rights is so ashamed of it, he lives a ginormous lie? Regardless of your position on gay marriage, regardless of whether you celebrate or merely tolerate  the gay lifestyle, we ought to know if John Edwards is a liar and a hypocrite. More here. 

If you haven't heard her speech here is Part I,  Part II, Part III, Part IV 

Update: on the CPAC straw poll results. Mayor Giuliani finished a strong second with 17% of the vote, and won the second choice question. He was four points ahead of his nearest competitor on the combined first/second choice question. This combined measure is significant because it indicates a greater depth of support. This result represents a strong vote of confidence for Rudy from CPAC regulars.

Romney tops conservative straw poll 

Combined first + second choice:
Giuliani 34, Gingrich 30, Romney 30
First choice:
Romney 21, Giuliani 17, Brownback 15, Gingrich 14, McCain 12

Go here for the poll results of  what 63 right of center  bloggers think on key issues (yours truly was polled as well.) John Hawkins over at Right Wing News did good work.

UPDATE: Fausta thoughts on CPAC here.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that I spent time with AJ Strata of the Stratsphere. I had a fascinating conversation with him (as his gorgeous daughter looked on) about the ongoing cover-up of  the macabre Litvinenko incident.  death. And Where the hell is the rest of that smuggled plutonium. I am going to have AJ on my show next week. You'll hear the latest in this frightening, really frightening story. I was riveted when he described how his family ihas the emergency plan should the plutonium hit the fan.

I like what he had to say about CPAC ...........you will too. Go here. And scroll he has a number of CPAC observations.

Romney: Chchchchchchanges

He's good

The Brass Ring and my .02 Cents

Everyone and their mother that ever wanted to run for the GOP nomination is here talking the talk, walking the walk.NZ Likes Duncan here;

Hunter is my kind of guy when it comes to the war, and I'll just leave that as shorthand that he's on the same page as those of us at The Victory Caucus. (It is my hope that we'll be able to do an in-depth interview with the Congressman for Victory Caucus sometime soon).

Joyner reports here:

Tom Vilsack is blaming the failure of his campaign to catch fire on undependable polls, which failed to capture his overwhelming support. He’s now mulling over which of his former competitors to endorse.

I would note that the polls failed to capture his support because it didn’t exist. There’s a line from a Sean Connery flick about fairness and prom queens that I would quote but I shall refrain in the interests of keepin’ it clean.

On a positive note, I’m sure his endorsement would drive perhaps seven or eight voters in Iowa, which could make a difference in that state’s idiotic caucus.

Joyner's got the best run down on everyone.

Romneybots and Browbackshirts

Newt Gingrich

John McCain, MIA

Giuliani Time

Also The Captain has excellent coverage here 

Mitt Romney's speech was much like the one at NRI. Coulter followed. I gotta tell you, the lines were longer for Ann than anyone (except Cheney Bolton.) Coulter was hysterical, acerbic but off. In some cases, really off.

Funny when she described Obama as half white, half black. And Hillary as half white half trash.

A nightmare when she in an attempt to describe John Edwards said something to the effect that you can't you the word faggot these days without being sent to rehab. WTF?

UPDATE: Mary Katherine on Giuliani here;

Today, he talked about leadership, security, toughness, and Reagan to a crowd who's looking for a leader in the image of Reagan in a time that needs security. It was a good pitch, and there were more people listening than have listened to anything at CPAC this week.

UPDATE: By the way Newt's speech to CPAC this Saturday March 3rd at 4:45pm ET will be webcast live at www.americansolutions.com.

BLOGGERS ROW

Showed dah love to the Bulldog at the Ankle Biting Pundit here (VIDEO) 

Justin with the Mitt Romney, Atlas and NZ Bear

I am blogging from bloggers row and I am in heaven. I am hardwired and loading video. Yeeaha! On my left is NZ Bear. He who has been so helpful that is a little embarrassing. I left all my wiring upstairs and NZ has all the bells and whistles. A real  mensch.  On my right, Justin with the Mitt Romney campaign (I'd lose the Mitthead, though. Certainly wouldn't put it at the top of Mitt's page but hey, that's just me.) But Justin is good people particularly since I gave Robert Spencer Justin's hardwire when he got up and walked away and now Bob is typing furiously while Justin paces back and forth waiting to get back on. A hard wire is crank to an addict here. Let me tell you.

Bloggers blogging

Duncan chatting up the bloggers

NZ and the Captain

Governor Gilmore working the row

Michelle is blogging on the row next tot to the wonderful SeeJaneMom(who is anon which is why  you don't see her.)

Robert Bidinotto of one of my favorite magazines, THE NEW INDIVIDUALIST.

Flip Romney? Ouch

UPDATE: Failed to mention the most excellent blogger James Joyner, Outside the Beltway. by far the best of the DC blogs. I have had the inordinate pleasure of working next to him the better part of the afternoon and he has been gracious, helpfu. He also has the best CPAC coverage here.

Robert Spencer KO'S Dinesh D'Souza

I have  a lot to say about this debate between Robert Spencer and the dhimmi Dinesh D'Souza. It has been a vitriolic run up but  primarily the quesrtion is , WTF happened to Dinesh? A once reasonable mind on the battle with Radical Islam (particualrly after 9/11) he has become dogmatic and almost sophomoric in his "argument" (of which there is little) to the facts about Islam. And as if that wasn;t enough, he has taken to throwing the Jews under the bus as well.

Dinesh did not debate resorted to sloganeering and barb throwing.

I have the other half of this debate when I am able but the tech situation in this hotel is killing me. Slow slow aunbearable access (this vidoeo took 3 hourts to upload so bear with me.)

Atlas Shrugs: Spencer on the Betrayal of Dinesh

Atlas Shrugs: Mighty Bostom Shatters D'Sousa

>Spencer finishes off D'Souza

UPDATED: PART I - CORRECT CLIP

PART II

UPDATE: PAMELA INTERVIEWS ROBERT SPENCER ON D'SOUZA

UPDATE Robert answers Dinesh's absurdities here; You've got to read it all

D'Souza: Spencer "essentially agrees with Bin Laden"

Dinesh D'Souza has blogged here, in "Letting Bin Laden Define Islam," about our debate yesterday. I am still at CPAC and don't have much time to give a full answer, but since he repeats some familiar canards about me and my books, which I still think he shows no signs of having read despite his claims to the contrary, I thought I'd post some preliminary thoughts. For one thing, it is worth noting that he made exactly these points in the debate yesterday, and I answered them, but he takes no account here of the answers. Instead, he just continues to make the charges, as if I have said nothing in response at all. Personally, I don't think this kind of thing is a very fruitful avenue for dialogue.

Yesterday I debated Robert Spencer at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference in Washington D.C. The debate was aired live on C-Span. Our topic was essentially, Is Islam the Problem? My book The Enemy at Home says no, locating the problem in the way that liberal foreign policy and liberal values projected abroad have strengthened radical Islam and emboldened it to attack us. Spencer's books collectively answer yes, the problem is with Islam itself.

But Islam has been around for 1300 years and the problem of Islamic terrorism is a recent one. How can Islam be to blame? For me the intelligent question is: what is it about Islam today that has made it an incubator of a certain kind of fanaticism and terrorism?

The idea that Islamic terrorism is a recent development is absurd in light of the history of Islamic jihad, including in D'Souza's native India, where 70 million Hindus were killed by Islamic jihadists. D'Souza ignores the fact that today's jihad terrorists are motivated by exactly the same ideology that fueled those jihad conquests. It is indeed resurgent in the last 25 years, but D'Souza has not, and cannot, point to any doctrinal deviation from traditional Islam by the jihadists that could account for this resurgence if it is indeed something new within Islam.

Spencer iwill have none of it. He is part of an influential strain of conservatives who blame the teachings and practice of Islam for producing Islamic terrorism. Since the terrorists do what they do on behalf of Islam, Islam must be the source of their convictions and therefore Islam needs to be examined, denounced and reformed. This is how Spencer thinks we can win the war on terror: by demanding that Muslims stop practicing Islam as it has been practiced since Muhammad.

Yes. A doctrine of warfare against unbelievers must be denounced and rejected if people are going to live in peace. I make no apologies for pointing that out. Any Muslim who sincerely rejects the doctrines of violent jihad and Islamic supremacism should have no problem with it either.

In arguing his thesis Spencer locates all the violent verses in the Koran and all the hideous deeds performed by Islamic conquerors, especially in their early centuries of irredentist expansion. Then he links these to the words and actions of Khomeini, Bin Laden and today's Islamic radicals. Spencer is an effective polemicist.

Thanks, Dinesh. But here you breeze by what I pointed out yesterday: that all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence and all the orthodox sects teach warfare against unbelievers. If anyone is cherry-picking violent verses from the Qur'an, it is they, not I.

Read it all. Now

How great is this? I grabbed this pic on my way to lunch with Bob.

UPDATE: Corrected video is up. SEE PART I

Scenes from the Lobby

Joel Mowbray working the phones

The boys are in the house

A gorgeous and passionate Atlas reader- Michelina, College conservatives, the future's so bright. I gotta wear shades.
.

SPENCER!

David Horowitz, champion of every basic American tenet freedom, to say nothing of  his  battle for academic integrity. Horowitz is a true warrior in the great fight.

Bolton ELECTRIFIED!

Bolton took the floor and nothing is the same. WHAT A SPEECH. He railed  about the liberals, the UN, North Korea, Iran .... all of it. ALL OF IT!
We are so used to hearing palp and diplotalk that when truth walks in the room, everybody must stand up. Don't kill me but I can't upload it. I need the disk. Myn recorder won't upload to this laptop.  I am not sure if Ian over at Hot Air got it.

It was such a brilliant,  magnificent oration I am thinking of staying up all night to transcribe the damn thing. He is the real thing. He brought down the house.

I can't upload now. The GREAT NEWS IS  I got it! And I will upload as soon as I get back to Gotham. He is the man. Trust Atlas on this one, it is worth waiting for. i have a short video that I am uploading to YouTube right now. I am on Verizon wireless so it will take a half.

HERE IS THE FULL AUDIO TO BOLTON'S SPEECH. It is difficult to hear over the din of the dinnerware and wolf whistels, but try. I can't transcribe now. I circumvented the tech issues by loading the speech to BLOGTALKRADIO (genius!) Click to play

Malkin and Atlas

Blog candy!

Details Details

So much happening. You are going hate me but so far I don't see a Republican candiate for '08. That's a fact. Everyone is talking about taxes, healthcare yada yada. I must be on a parallel planet.

The issue is the war. What is wrong with everyone?

I am trying to upload the Spencer/Dinesh debate as I write this but my Verizon wireless card sucks on uploads. Just met Malkin. She yelled ATLAS.  So FABUOLUS! Will upload pics when I get back to my room. It was a moment.

David Horowitz is here. Love him. Asked him how he could keep a straight face debating Ward Churchill. He said he got a kick out of him (how could he not, the fool is always high.) Joel Mowbray, Cliff Kincaid, R, Emmet Tyrell, Michael Steele - everybody is in da hous.

I jusr got through security for Cheney. I am going to try to liveblog Cheney and Bolton's speech but not to worry. I will upload the audio.

Steele just kuicked off, "are there any Conservatives in the house?"