Joke of the Day

The Nation sent someone to infiltrate CPAC. (Michelle Malkin mentions it here).

Among other things, he claims that Malkin went 'unhinged' when asked about her book, 'In Defense of Internment. He stalked her across the floor, taped the episode, and then edited it to filter out the mild stuff, leaving this nasty exchange:

MB: Hi, Michelle. I'm Max Blumenthal with the Nation.
MM: Oh, hello.
MB: Hi. I loved your book, In Defense of Internment. I was wondering...
MM: Uh, I don't think you did.
MB: (Proferring a photo of an internment camp.) Can you make this out to 'Max?'
MM: I'm not going to sign that.
MB: Why? What's the problem.
MM: I'm not going to sign it.
MB: Well, why not?
MM: I'm not going to sign it.

SNIP!

MM: (Points at the camera) Let me tell you something since you are filming this. I am all for honest intellectual debate.

SNIP!

MM: I had extensive exchanges with critics of my book. I put up an errata page. I invited the...
MB: You had to issue errata?
MM: Excuse me. Exactly. I did.
MB: So you made a lot of errors in your book?
MM: I made a lot of errors and I acknowledged several errors in my book.

SNIP!

MM: I absolutely detest your initiative in trying to smear my work without even reading it.

SNIP!

MM: Thank you very much. That's all the time I have...
MB: (Following her) That was a good speech, Malkin. Now I was wondering if you'd learned any lessons... um... journalistically...

MB: There she goes...I think that went really well...

Pretty vicious on Malkin's part, huh?

All it took was four edits to produce such unhinged comments as 'I made a lot of errors in my book, and 'I detest your initiative in trying to smear my work without even reading it.'

It's cute. Blumenthal even prefaces the video with the tease 'see seven minutes of raw, unexpurgated right wing action' and then posts a clip that's heavily edited. I bet they don't have the guts to show the full exchange. Malkin was polite at all times, if direct - not a surprise considering the confrontation Blumenthal sought.

I wonder what he said to her that he edited out?

Further, if the Nation is looking for truly unhinged material, have they tried looking at any of the leading Leftie blogs?

CPAC: How Are they Doing?

Plenty of bloggers are over at CPAC, giving their impressions of Romney and Giuliani. There's also commentary on McCain and how much he may or may not have damaged himself by not attending.

I encourage you to check out Captain's Quarters, Ace, and Michelle Malkin for impressions.

I know that I ought to take this 'seriously;' that impressions made this early are important, and will help shape the race. But as I've noted before, I simply think that given how early it is, people are paying too much attention to it.

I suspect that there will be ups and down for each of the candidates between now and the time of the first primary. Romney is dead in the water today, but he may not be in 6 (or 8, or 10) months. Fred Thompson, or Newt Gingrich (someone who seemed to get a lot of love from the CPAC participants I spoke to last night), or someone else may yet get into this race.

I guess my refusal to blog CPAC 24-7 is my way of protesting the seemingly inordinate amount of attention given to it.

It's more important today that we get the war right. So go read Bill Roggio.

The Omni Shoreham Bar: Promoting Conservative Sobriety

Good time at the CPAC event last night, where Ace and Jack M, Dave at Garfield Ridge, Harrison from Innocent Bystanders and others were hanging around in the hotel bar. Regrettably, there were no drinks to be had - unless you had an hour or two to wait for service. Fortunately, someone was gracious enough to commandeer the piano and play tunes from 'Guys and Dolls.' I believe the song I heard was the Tom Tancredo campaign theme: 'Luck be a Lady.'

With the end of waterboarding, I believe this is now the preferred method of getting suspected Al Qaeda operatives to talk.

It's good to know no one will be hung over for the speeches today.