Back At It

It's been a little while since I've posted anything substantial. The truth is, I've just been rather disenchanted with current events of late. That, combined with midterms week, meant not much blogging was going on.

But now it's back on! Santorum took Missouri's caucus, while Romney handily won Puerto Rico's primary. So, here's the latest Doomsday Countdown, which is beginning to appear ever more dire.

He's almost hitting the halfway point. Not pretty.

Wrongful WHAT?!

From the Christian Post

A jury in Portland, Ore., awarded a couple $2.9 million dollars on Friday for the "wrongful birth" of their daughter who has Down syndrome.

Kalanit Levy was born in June of 2007 to Ariel and Deborah Levy, after prenatal testing did not reveal any abnormalities.

The Levys' attorney said Dr. Thomas Jenkins removed maternal tissue – instead of the fetal tissue – from Deborah Levy's womb which resulted in faulty test readings. The suit also faults the medical center for reassuring Deborah Levy that her baby didn't have an extra 21st chromosome.

The couple says they would have had an abortion had the test been done properly and they had known about the Down syndrome.

Does it get any more appalling than that? They brought a beautiful baby girl into the world who hopefully will never find out how much her parents hate her.

Tick Tock

It's time to update the Dooooooomsday Countdown to reflect Super Tuesday's results. As always, I'm using RealClearPolitics for my numbers.

Super Tuesday was hardly a huge jump for Mitt Romney in terms of unified support for him from Republicans. But it was a massive gain for him in terms of the all-important delegates.

If something's going to happen among the "Non-Mitt" factions, something's gotta give. Gingrich seems to think winning his home state is incentive enough to stay in the race, and he's hoping to make some kind of Southern stand.

But the numbers don't lie. It's getting harder and harder mathematically to beat Romney.

What’s interesting is that from Super Tuesday forward, only 1,580 delegates remain. This means that Romney would have to win 50 percent of the remaining delegates, Santorum would have to win 58 percent, and Gingrich and Paul need around two-thirds of them to reach a majority.

Looking ahead three days, we have three territories and Kansas up for grabs on the 10th.

Sandra Fluke and Doritos

Yet another chapter in the “Republican War on Women” has been opened (see my post from last week). “23-year-old law student from Georgetown University” Sandra Fluke testified before an “unofficial” congressional committee—Republicans barred her from testifying before the official committee because they were discussing the constitutionality of the Obama mandate—about how poor, penniless law students are paying one thousand dollars for birth control a year.

Just one problem: almost everything Fluke told the committee is a bald-faced lie. She’s 30, not 23. She’s a former president of Law Students for Reproductive Justice who graduated from Cornell in 2003 with a degree in Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Policy Analysis and Management (try saying that in one breath). According to Jammie Wearing Fools, Fluke herself admitted in an interview that she chose Georgetown with the express intent of taking on the school’s insurance policy, which does not cover contraceptives.

Of course, the whole brouhaha started when Rush called Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” on his radio program, which launched a national frenzy of people outraged at this misogynistic display from the idiot blowhard Rush Limbaugh, or any number of plays on his name commentators could come up with. Republicans, too got in on the act. Republican lawmakers denounced his statements along with Democrats, and Rush ended up apologizing (although I doubt it was motivated by any elected official’s words).

Here’s something no one—neither on the right nor the left—is pointing out: students at Georgetown can opt out of the school’s insurance policy. Insurance through Georgetown costs $1895 a year. Fluke testified about her roommate, who needs birth control to treat an ovarian cyst. Well, there are plenty of insurance policies offered on the wider market that both cover birth control and are cheaper than what Georgetown offers.

That’s what everyone does in the real world. If I am on a quest for Doritos, and the store is organic, I shop somewhere else. I could ask the store to stock the Cooler Ranch deliciousness, but I’m not going to go on a crusade to force the store to carry them. Especially if the owner is some new-age hippie who thinks processed food is of the devil and would rather be clubbed to death with a leg of free-range lamb than sell anything but natural organic free-trade preservative-free recyclable chips.

Would it be easier if I could get my cheesy, crunchy flavor explosions in the same place I do the rest of my shopping? Probably. But who am I to force Starfire Daisylove to sully her organic store with my every whim?

For some reason, liberals can’t seem to comprehend that. They have determined birth control is a right, and as everyone knows, if you have the right to something, that means the government—or Catholic charities or insurance companies—should hand it to you for free.

My girlfriend’s father wants to know if the government is so intent on making sure we all have access to our rights, when do they start handing out the free guns? After all, that right is explicitly listed in the Constitution! But then again, so is the right to free exercise, and liberals don’t seem to mind trampling on that one in their pursuit of free contraceptives and abortifacents.

If the Founding Fathers knew we were fighting over who hands out free condoms, they’d be disgusted. They intended rights to be freedom from restriction, rather than a guarantee of free access.

Onward!

We're still waiting for results from Alaska and from the Idaho caucus, but tonight is basically over, and things went fairly according to polls.

Here are the takes for the night thus far:

Paul claims no states. Thus far he's taken 6 delegates tonight, for a grand total of 46.

Gingrich takes Georgia, his home state and his only big prize. That gives him 36 more, plus scraps, giving him a Super Tuesday delegate count of 52 and a total thus far of 89.

Santorum takes Tennessee, Oklahoma, and North Dakota, in addition to performing beyond expectations in Ohio. That gives him a Super Tuesday total of 60 and a grand total of 136.

Romney takes the big catches of the night: Ohio, Virginia, Massachusetts, Idaho, and Vermont. He's got a Super Tuesday total of 137 and a grand total of 310.

I'll update the Doomsday Clock and have some analysis tomorrow, but I'm exhausted. Bedtime!

Super Tuesday Cometh

Amusing, isn't it, how when Santorum wins a "non-binding caucus," it's a "beauty pageant," but when Romney wins two last week, it's "pivotal."

Sort that one out if you will.

Regardless, I will dutifully include those "non-binding" delegates in our Doomsday Countdown. Here's the updated clock:

The rest of the candidates, in order: Santorum with 74, Paul with 37, and Gingrich with 33.

Looming before us, though, is the true make-it-or-break-it moment for the Republican race to the nominee. Yes, it's Super Tuesday, the political wonk's senior prom.

There are 10 states up for grabs on Tuesday, with two more just four days afterwards. On Super Tuesday, there are 412 delegates up for grabs, and all of the states are awarding the delegates proportionally through three different methods. Either the state will award the delegates based on what percentage of the votes they receive (proportional), a combination of that and delegates awarded for taking first in the primary, or through a caucus system.

In my not-so-expert opinion, here's how today is going to turn out:

Romney will walk away with the night, but just barely. He's going to walk away with 151 delegates, largely from Massachusetts and Virginia, where he's way up in the polls.

Santorum will show more than decently. He'll claim 127 delegates from Oklahoma and Tennessee, and he'll also grab Ohio, but barely.

Gingrich's biggest--and only--prize of the night will be Georgia. He'll pick up scraps here and there, giving him about 75 delegates. He's the biggest loser of the night, since he'll have put the nail in the coffin of his fate as irrelevant. If he's wise, he drops, especially if he doesn't do as well in GA as predicted.

Paul will get 43, mostly from scraps. He'll claim North Dakota, but barely.

In short. Today isn't going to be a deal-breaker. The race is going to grind on through the primaries on the 10th and the 13th.

Prayer for Iraq

The Classical School of the Medes is a Christian school founded in the Kurdish region of Iraq in 2000. The school's student body comes largely from Muslim families in the area, many of whom work in government. The school draws much of its teaching staff from volunteers who take up to a year of their lives to travel to Iraq and share their love, and the love of Christ, with young Muslims.

Last week, tragedy struck. From WORLD:

As soon as the school day was over in northern Iraq on Thursday, high school students at the Classical School of the Medes began switching out their profile photos on Facebook. The Iraqis replaced them with photos of their American teacher, Jeremiah Small, who was killed Thursday when an Iraqi student pulled a gun and shot him during class. The student then shot himself and died on the way to the hospital.

“There was an argument between the student and his American teacher … and as a result of that argument the student shot dead his teacher using a pistol he had, and then shot himself,” provincial Gov. Zana Mohammad Salih said shortly after the incident.

 Jeremiah Small had been an integral part of CSM for years. According to Servant International, the organization that coordinates supplying CSM teaches:

Jeremiah began teaching history and literature at the Classical School of the Medes in fall 2005. During the course of his teaching career, he taught over 1000 students. He was a beloved teacher and friend. His love for his students extended beyond the classroom, and he regularly led hiking trips, camping trips, and other outdoor activities with the students. He was a learned colleague to the teachers in the school and a friend of everyone at SGI.

Jeremiah continued to return to Iraq to teach year after year because of the great changes and hope he saw in the lives of his students. Jeremiah was a mentor to a number of students who through his leadership have been inspired to work for the betterment of their community and nation.

There are conflicting reports as to the events before, during, and after the shooting. International media initially declared the shooting to be religiously motivated.

The senior students of CSM, in their student newspaper, wrote:

Jeremiah Small, an American teacher who had volunteered six years of his life to serve the people in Kurdistan, was shot in the head today by one of his students in 11th grade. The student, who was known for some personal issues, then shot himself, and both died shortly afterward. Quite contrary to what the public media has claimed, he wasn’t killed because of a religious dispute. All students who were at the incident confirm that. [Emphasis mine]

Small's parents, Dan and Rebecca, likewise have disputed initial reports. The cut's a bit long, but worth reading.

According to Rebecca, an American teacher had been auditing Small’s class to observe and learn from his teaching style. The teacher’s account differed from reports filed by the Associated Press and Reuters.

Those news outlets said there had been an argument between Small and the student just prior to the shots being fired. They said many of the students in the class could not hear the argument.

The teacher who spoke with Rebecca Thursday afternoon gave a different account, saying there was no argument between Small and the student. The Smalls did not want to divulge the name of that teacher as she is still in Iraq and they did not want to put her in danger.

According to the teacher, Small’s class was studying the history of Islam and Mohammed the day before the shooting. As was his style, Small let the students engage in a debate that the auditing teacher described as becoming very heated. During the course of the debate, the student who would shoot Small the next day declared he had become a Christian just the week before, the teacher told Rebecca over the phone. Small did tell the student to settle down. The teacher told Rebecca that Small said, “You can’t convince them that way, by getting upset with them.”

The teacher continued, saying Thursday morning Small was saying a prayer in class to begin the day as he always did when the student stood, told everyone not to move, and fired the three shots killing Small, and then turned the gun on himself.

The family is flying out to Iraq to arrange for Jeremaih's funeral, and to comfort the family of the shooter. If you are so inclined, please consider donating to a fund set up on their behalf.

RIP, Breitbart

Perhaps no single man has been a more courageous, fearless champion for truth in the modern era than Andrew Breitbart. News of his passing socked me in the gut this morning, and at first I didn't believe it.

Breitbart may be "uncool" to hipster conservatives and others, but his brash, bold style brought attention ot issues and stories that never would have received a second glance from major media outlets until he came along.

Breitbart is now on my official list of people I regret never meeting. He was a hero, a man I looked up to. Now who will we turn to?

No Joke...

...I'm serious. This was the picture the WSJ used in their print edition to go along with the story of Romney's double victories.

I hope I'm not the only one who saw this when I first looked at the picture.

Doomsday Ticks Ever Nearer

Yet another "pivotal" test (or state, or challenge, or contest, depending on which media outlet you read) has been conquered by Captain Inevitability.
Mitt Romney grabbed both Arizona and Michigan, and you know what that means!

As you can see, we've burned through 7.5 minutes in our countdown to certain doom. Oh and by the way, the doomsday I'm counting down to here isn't President Mitt Romney. No, it's candidate Mitt Romney, who will then fall to President Obama.

Is this the end for Santorum? Looking at most of the pundits you might think so. Romney's "resurgance" means he has "passed a crucial test."

But then there's Ohio. Could that be the key to Santoru's Super Tuesday?