Althouse: Back!

September 28, 2012

Back!

Sorry about the downage. But I got some fabulous help and we are back.

Talk about anything you want in the comments... including how desperate you felt when the blog was semi-inaccessible and how cool it is for things to flow smoothly. On the blog, I mean. And everywhere!

84 comments:

Anonymous said...: I thought Whore hacked my account, whew.; 9/28/12, 1:11 PM
chickelit said...: I thought it was DOS attack organized by Muslims.; 9/28/12, 1:12 PM
garage mahal said...: I'm surprised this story isn't getting picked up by conservative media.

Election officials in six Florida counties are investigating what appears to be "hundreds” of cases of suspected voter fraud by a GOP consulting firm that has been paid nearly $3 million by the Republican National Committee to register Republican voters in five key battleground states, state officials tell NBC.; 9/28/12, 1:13 PM
Nonapod said...: Yeah, what was the outage about. Was it a DDoS? Was it a general Blogger issue? Did someone spill grape soda all over the server, attracting ants?; 9/28/12, 1:15 PM
chickelit said...: @garage: I used to worry about voter fraud until you convinced me that there was no such thing.; 9/28/12, 1:19 PM
I Callahan said...: Garage,

I noticed you skipped the headline: "RNC cuts ties with firm over voter fraud allegations". You know, what the DNC didn't do with all of the vote fraud organizations they're affiliated with.; 9/28/12, 1:21 PM
Tibore said...: The blog was down?

(*ducks*)

Kidding! :D; 9/28/12, 1:24 PM
Anonymous said...: But, we know only Democrats engage in voter fraud, right?; 9/28/12, 1:26 PM
Anonymous said...: I'm certain that the most jucy, salacious, damning things you wrote all year were posted during the outage.

And now we'll never see them.

BTW, our new life here in Michigan, after leaving Dallas, is getting strange. We noticed that the temperature is starting to be unduly chilly, and the leaves are turning colors in September.

September!?!?

My wife had to put on a sweater.

Does anyone else know what's going on?; 9/28/12, 1:27 PM
Lyssa said...: Voter fraud is actually wrong regardless of who does it.; 9/28/12, 1:28 PM
Triangle Man said...: Nate Silver's model has declared Wisconsin "safe" for Obama. Are we becoming politically irrelevant? North Carolina is now a "toss-up".; 9/28/12, 1:28 PM
Nathan Alexander said...: I followed the link to the "voter fraud" article.

At this point, it has more qualifications than facts.

An alleged case of suspected fraud is under investigation. The fraud in question, if true, was carried out by a few people, and not systematically.

If it does turn out to be voter fraud, I wouldn't be surprised if those who conducted the fraud were liberal-progressive operatives either doing things the way they learned for ACORN/DNC, or deliberately trying to discredit a GOP GOTV operation.

In any case, to date, every single one of the approximately two dozen people convicted of voter fraud in the last 10 years are Democrats.; 9/28/12, 1:29 PM
I Callahan said...: Quayle:

Welcome to our state. You're one of the families where each that moves in, two move out. You're bucking the trend!

You think the weather is fun now? Wait til late October. Bwahahaha!!!; 9/28/12, 1:31 PM
chickelit said...: Inga read: In any case, to date, every single one of the approximately two dozen people convicted of voter fraud in the last 10 years are Democrats.; 9/28/12, 1:32 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: Quayle said...

Does anyone else know what's going on?

Nope, everything's normal here in the Inland Empire. Forecast for Sunday is 109, Monday 108.; 9/28/12, 1:33 PM
I Callahan said...: two dozen people convicted of voter fraud in the last 10 years are Democrats.

That's only the ones who got caught: the percentage is pretty much the same for that group.; 9/28/12, 1:33 PM
caplight45 said...: Garage: I resent the message and texted.

After World Peace, I think the most important thing to me is to have a freely flowing Althouse Blog experience.; 9/28/12, 1:33 PM
Anonymous said...: OMG, two dozen over ten years!! Widespread, rampant even.; 9/28/12, 1:35 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Inga said...

But, we know only Democrats engage in voter fraud, right?

No, but we know only Democrats oppose a check that would prevent voter registration fraud from turning into vote fraud.; 9/28/12, 1:36 PM
Hagar said...: Lyssa,
Then how come it was OK for the Kennedy brothers to meet with Sam Giancana and his capos at Sinatra's place to set up election fraud in Illinois for the 1960 election?
Of course, that was against Richard Nixon, so it was kind of a special occasion, but still ...; 9/28/12, 1:37 PM
Hagar said...: and Nixon had not really become Nixon yet.; 9/28/12, 1:41 PM
edutcher said...: I figured something had crashed, but it took about 2 restarts to figure out it wasn't Chrome.

PS Remember Choom and his 57 states?

Turns out he even got that wrong. Try 62.

Inga said...

But, we know only Democrats engage in voter fraud, right?

By George, I think she's got it.

Triangle Man said...

Nate Silver's model has declared Wisconsin "safe" for Obama. Are we becoming politically irrelevant? North Carolina is now a "toss-up".

The only thing that's a toss up is Silver's job after the election.; 9/28/12, 1:43 PM
TWM said...: "But, we know only Democrats engage in voter fraud, right?"

No, but you do have it to a high art form.

No, seriously, so since both sides seem to engage in it, all the more reason for solid voter ID laws, right?; 9/28/12, 1:44 PM
Nonapod said...: OMG, two dozen over ten years!! Widespread, rampant even.
Because every single person who has committed voter fraud is always caught and successfully prosecuted.; 9/28/12, 1:47 PM
traditionalguy said...: Blogger can be like a box of chocolates.

Speaking of digital conveniences, I left my cell phone at home the other day and discovered I was like a flightless bird overshadowed by swift flights of digital smart phone users.

And there are no longer any pay phones. Who knew?

And asking at businesses for the use of their phone does disclose who are friendly and who are smart and mean.; 9/28/12, 1:50 PM
dreams said...: I'm definitely into instant gratification so its going to be really hard on me if we suffer a world wide financial collapse with the resulting greatest depression. Maybe I'll be more concerned about food, not just fast food either.; 9/28/12, 1:50 PM
traditionalguy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/28/12, 1:51 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Can’t wait to read Ann Coulter’s “Mugged: Racial Demagoguery from the Seventies to Obama.” Check out her boxing match with the girls on The View.

Coulter is always funny as hell and she’s an original intellect. She's just about the only one out there willing to take on the race hustlers (and we have a few of those skunks on this board, don't we?).

Book enters Amazon at #18!; 9/28/12, 1:54 PM
Anonymous said...: Fabulousness is an unusual thing in tech support. Did they run the most darling little script for you?; 9/28/12, 1:55 PM
sakredkow said...: OMG Althouse, it was HORRIBLE! Don't ever do that again!

Hikaru Nakamura, the strongest US chess player since Fischer, got his butt handed to him again at the London Grand Prix today - a rough tournament for him. In the cellar for now, but he'll bounce back. He has amazing fighting spirit, currently rated something like fifth in the world - although he might lose a couple of places after London.; 9/28/12, 1:59 PM
gadfly said...: Gosh - and Google didn't keep you down for weeks! You must have used the code "ALTHOU.SE"; 9/28/12, 2:11 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: Did Inga read the First Amendment in the interim?

Has anybody been able to explain the damned thing to her?; 9/28/12, 2:12 PM
dreams said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/28/12, 2:14 PM
dreams said...: "Coulter is always funny as hell and she’s an original intellect. She's just about the only one out there willing to take on the race hustlers (and we have a few of those skunks on this board, don't we?)."

I admit it, I derive vicarious pleasure knowing that Ann Coulter's mother was born and raised in KY.; 9/28/12, 2:15 PM
dreams said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/28/12, 2:21 PM
garage mahal said...: Garage: I resent the message and texted.

Answered! [finally]; 9/28/12, 2:21 PM
purplepenquin said...: And there are no longer any pay phones. Who knew?

If you're in Madison, they got a couple at the Monona Terrace.; 9/28/12, 2:21 PM
dreams said...: "But, we know only Democrats engage in voter fraud, right?"

In life, its probably not a good idea to rely on the honor system. Elections are important for the stakes are high and I think most of us are old enough to know that people do cheat.; 9/28/12, 2:23 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: A carjacker just killed himself on live TV near Tonopah AZ. Shepherd Smith couldn't stop the coverage in time.; 9/28/12, 2:36 PM
Brennan said...: When Althouse is down, I etch my comments into stones.

And by etch I mean drink and by stones I mean beer.; 9/28/12, 2:39 PM
wyo sis said...: As far as voter fraud goes, it's as old as voting. The telling thing is who gets the most worked up about it when a real solution is proposed.
Like those pack dogs when the rock is thrown.

I'm on a four day week break today and was looking forward to following the comments as they happen, but when Blogger went down I had a nap instead. I'm pretty happy about it at the moment. I got a nap and the comments didn't get way ahead of me.
Win!; 9/28/12, 2:45 PM
Penny said...: "... I think most of us are old enough to know that people do cheat."

Yeah, OK, so call us "The Blinkers".

Then there's that other patriotic American group we call "The Fraud Denialists".; 9/28/12, 2:56 PM
Roger J. said...: Damn--didnt know your blog was down--and somehow, strangely, life went on.; 9/28/12, 3:05 PM
jimbino said...: "downage"?

Is that like upage, sewage, newage, dowage, roughage?; 9/28/12, 3:06 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I thought the problem was in my end..; 9/28/12, 3:08 PM
gerry said...: This is a relief! I thought I'd been banned!; 9/28/12, 3:08 PM
Triangle Man said...: The only thing that's a toss up is Silver's job after the election.

Romney is going to have to do *something*, or get really lucky with some truly terrible news for Obama. He also needs to do it before it is too late. The normal ebb and flow of Romney's popularity is not likely to overcome the polling deficit he is facing now.; 9/28/12, 3:18 PM
Rusty said...: garage mahal said...
I'm surprised this story isn't getting picked up by conservative media.

Election officials in six Florida counties are investigating what appears to be "hundreds” of cases of suspected voter fraud by a GOP consulting firm that has been paid nearly $3 million by the Republican National Committee to register Republican voters in five key battleground states, state officials tell NBC.

Drudge has it. So I guess you're full of shit, again.; 9/28/12, 3:19 PM
David said...: Never noticed you were gone, Althouse, since I've spent the last three hours trying to resolve a Verizon iPad data nightmare.

Isn't interesting that a telephone company will not answer the telephone.

And an internet company doesn't have an easy way to let you solve the issue on the internet?

Modern times.; 9/28/12, 3:21 PM
Baron Zemo said...: Perhaps your blog caught a virus from Andrew Sullivan?; 9/28/12, 3:21 PM
Baron Zemo said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/28/12, 3:21 PM
David said...: "garage mahal said...
I'm surprised this story isn't getting picked up by conservative media.

Election officials in six Florida counties are investigating what appears to be "hundreds” of cases of suspected voter fraud by a GOP consulting firm that has been paid nearly $3 million by the Republican National Committee to register Republican voters in five key battleground states, state officials tell NBC."

But Garage, I thought there was no such thing as voter fraud.

But if there were, Republican or Democrat, they should do serious jail time. Every one of the weasels.; 9/28/12, 3:23 PM
David said...: I am in Santa Barbara--Montecito actually-for a wedding. The wealth is astonishing. Not just here but from LA all the way out. The weather is better than perfect. The women are joyously lovely. The food is great. The dogs are friendly.

I don't think any of these people believe that California is fucked up. How could they?

There are so many different realities. It's interesting to be in this one, just for a little while.; 9/28/12, 3:27 PM
Hagar said...: It is annoying when no one will take my bait.

However, regarding the "phantom" election fraud issue, how is it that the Democrats for 50 years now have claimed that it was OK for their presidential candidate and his campaign manager (and later Attorney General) to meet with a Mafia don and his capos to discuss election fraud and to then send said capo a "satchel" full of 100-dollar bills, presumably for expenses, on the grounds that it was "only" for election fraud?

And further that it was fully justified anyway, because it was to prevent Richard Nixon getting elected?

That the meeting and payment took place has never been contested by either the Kennedys or the Democratic Party - if anything they have bragged about it!; 9/28/12, 3:28 PM
David said...: Hey, how did the big "affirmative action" debate go last night. Who won, Church or Esenberg? Was it civil? (I bet Esenberg and Church were.) Did anyone show up? Did anyone care?; 9/28/12, 3:29 PM
pm317 said...: I thought the media whores (including google) were out to get us through you, you know kind of shut us up.; 9/28/12, 3:30 PM
ricpic said...: I took it very personal!

Keeding, just keeding.; 9/28/12, 3:35 PM
Hagar said...: And their back-up story has been that it did not matter, because JFK would have won the 1960 election even without Illinois.

And the Democrats all nod their heads and say, "Yeah, that's exactly right!"; 9/28/12, 3:36 PM
David said...: I repeat.

The women are joyously lovely.

I would not want to have to maintain one of them though.

My joyously lovely wife grew up near here on a farm. She left for a lot of reasons. We could not afford to move back here even if she wanted to. Which she does not.

She is not high maintenance. Really just a teriffically nice person.

The world is perfect.

For a really nice interval.

Even Verizon can't spoil it.; 9/28/12, 3:36 PM
ricpic said...: David - Nothing remotely touches California when it's right. I was jealous as all get out in my youth but didn't have the cojones to make the big change. I think that was true of millions and it's not sweet I told you so when we read what's happening to the Golden State, it's heartbreak.; 9/28/12, 3:38 PM
Known Unknown said...: There was this from the same story:

"Strategic has a zero tolerance policy for breaking the law. Accordingly, once we learned of the irregularities in Palm Beach County, we were able to trace all questionable cards to one individual and immediately terminated our working relationship with the individual in question. Strategic is committed to following the letter of the law and will continue to cooperate with the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections to ensure that this issue is resolved."

Could be utter bullshit, but it looks like action has been taken. That's what I care about. The D or R related to fraud has very little to do with anything.; 9/28/12, 3:46 PM
Nathan Alexander said...: Important points to remember:
1) Democrats talking about their voter fraud problem reminds me that there is no cannibalism in the British Navy.

2) After assuring us there is zero voter fraud at all, when you point out that the convicted are all Democrats they start talking about the rate of convictions. As if it were okay to only have .01% of your sandwich to be composed of human fecal matter. Me? I want my sandwich fecal matter content at 0%.

3) For every person convicted, there are more discovered and not convicted ("Thanks, Obama's highly-politicized Justice Department that thinks voter protection only extends to black people!"). For every bit of fraud discovered, there are countless others not caught. Democrats do everything they can to prevent discovery of voter fraud, then claim that there is no need to try to discover voter fraud because the numbers are so low. Like someone murdering their parents and pleading clemency on account of being an orphan.

4) Why do liberals want tougher prosecution for a videotaped sting (no actual fraud occurs) that reveals how the policies the Democrat Party advocate allow for easy voter fraud, than for the actual voter fraud perpetrated by liberals in the first place?

It's almost as if liberal-progressive Democrats are hypocrites about everything!; 9/28/12, 3:54 PM
Nathan Alexander said...: "Strategic has a zero tolerance policy for breaking the law. Accordingly, once we learned of the irregularities in Palm Beach County, we were able to trace all questionable cards to one individual and immediately terminated our working relationship with the individual in question. Strategic is committed to following the letter of the law and will continue to cooperate with the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections to ensure that this issue is resolved."

Ah, accountability!

It would be nice if Democrats would try that at least once.; 9/28/12, 3:55 PM
Hagar said...: And of other matters, I see that the GDP growth for the 2nd quarter has as usual on second thought been reduced from 1.7% to 1.3%.

Is not that well below the rate of inflation?
So how on earth can that be described as "recovery" - anaemic, or otherwise?; 9/28/12, 4:04 PM
Penny said...: "Coulter is always funny as hell and she’s an original intellect. She's just about the only one out there willing to take on the race hustlers.."

Sorry to disappoint you, Shouting Thomas, but I think Coulter is taking on everyone OTHER than the race hustlers in her latest book.

Saw her on some talking heads show and her primary point was that the civil rights movement was hijacked FROM black people and re-appropriated to various other special interest groups like feminists and gay rights activists.

And all of this, because of the Democrats.; 9/28/12, 4:10 PM
Patrick said...: BTW, our new life here in Michigan, after leaving Dallas, is getting strange. We noticed that the temperature is starting to be unduly chilly, and the leaves are turning colors in September.

Welcome to the Northland, Quayle. One word of advice: Wait as long as you can to break out the parka. If you start using it early (November), then you won't have anything left to add in January.

Good luck.; 9/28/12, 4:20 PM
William R. Hamblen said...: Having what passes for a life, I hadn't noticed this blog was down.; 9/28/12, 4:29 PM
Crunchy Frog said...: And of other matters, I see that the GDP growth for the 2nd quarter has as usual on second thought been reduced from 1.7% to 1.3%.

Unexpectedly!; 9/28/12, 4:31 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: @David

The proverbial shit has not hit the proverbial fan yet here in California. The Democrat-dominated legislature keeps spending as if there were no next year, and public employee pension funds are in deep denial. No telling how it will play out, but I'm pretty sure state employees will still be retiring at 50 on full salary while the rest of us drive on crappy roads past closed state parks.; 9/28/12, 4:56 PM
chickelit said...: @Tyrone Sloproth: I heard the other day that San Diego was running a budget surplus the other day. I have no idea whether it was true or whether the accounting was at all transparent, but it was an odd story to float.; 9/28/12, 5:03 PM
Saint Croix said...: Oh no! They took down the Obama Phone website.

And unlike Althouse, it's not coming back. Almost like it never existed at all. Spooky.; 9/28/12, 5:03 PM
Saint Croix said...: Which is funnier, this or this?

(You'll have to put your fingers in your ears to avoid the Obama ads, sorry, but it's worth the pain).

Also see this, which might be even funnier.; 9/28/12, 5:08 PM
Toad Trend said...: Downage downer.

Probably kept my blood pressure stable this afternoon.

Tyrone - just finished listening to my brother (lives in Roseville near Sacramento and works for Cal DHS) riff about the sorry state of affairs in the 'Golden' state.

My condolences. But I'm afraid we here in NY state are not far behind.; 9/28/12, 5:09 PM
Penny said...: Street Fight should be required viewing for Voter Fraud Denialists and anyone else unfamiliar with machine politics.

All caught in living color and preserved for your righteous eyes.

Deny THAT!; 9/28/12, 5:13 PM
Saint Croix said...: Holy shit, now they put up a new website.

Obama Phone!

These people are so fucking Orwellian. It's unreal.; 9/28/12, 5:22 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: chickelit said...

I heard the other day that San Diego was running a budget surplus the other day.

I couldn't find a story that mentioned a surplus in San Diego, but I did find one that indicates why San Diego is doing better than most California municipalities. Those crafty San Diegans have a clever trick up their collective sleeve-- they don't spend more money than they take in! Imagine that! Of course, San Diego is easily the most politically conservative metropolis in California if not the US, so naturally their fiscal policies make more sense.; 9/28/12, 5:47 PM
Crunchy Frog said...: Hey, how did the big "affirmative action" debate go last night. Who won, Church or Esenberg? Was it civil? (I bet Esenberg and Church were.) Did anyone show up? Did anyone care?

Had Church won, we would have heard all about it. Since we heard nothing at all, Esenberg must have had a decent showing.; 9/28/12, 5:51 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: That Obama Phone site is weird. All the posts have the same publish date, the writing doesn't sound like it's from a native English speaker, and there's a reference to George "William" Bush. What gives?; 9/28/12, 5:53 PM
Michael K said...: I got some reading done. Thanks.; 9/28/12, 6:00 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Want to hear something funny? The ASL word for "Quaker" is twiddling your thumbs.

You stand there piously with your hands at your stomach, fingers knitted, thumbs twirling eyes upward expression of infinite patience awaiting spiritual inspiration.

How rude. I have never seen that word used. I have never used that word, and if I did use that word I would expect to be not understood and have to spell it to clarify, and laughter upon clarification. Because I would do it amusingly, the pious upward look is irresistible.; 9/28/12, 6:05 PM
edutcher said...: Triangle Man said...

The only thing that's a toss up is Silver's job after the election.

Romney is going to have to do *something*, or get really lucky with some truly terrible news for Obama. He also needs to do it before it is too late. The normal ebb and flow of Romney's popularity is not likely to overcome the polling deficit he is facing now.

Zero's had truly terrible news for several months now. The trick is for the media to report on it.

As for the polling deficit, first we have to determine how real it is. As ricpic noted in an earlier thread, would Zero be campaigning hard in OH if he were up by 10?; 9/28/12, 6:08 PM
Saint Croix said...: That Obama Phone site is weird. All the posts have the same publish date

It was a different website this morning!

This is closer to what they had before, with a photo of Obama. (Scroll down a bit).

I don't know what's more insane, that we're spending $1.6 billion dollars on free phones for people (from our phone taxes!), or they're advertising free phones for people. Or that they're actually calling them Obama Phones.; 9/28/12, 6:08 PM
MadisonMan said...: You were down? I was on the road.; 9/28/12, 7:01 PM
Gahrie said...: Anybody wondering if a hacker took Althouse down, and is now posting in her place? It would explain the Romney's a racist because Rush played a video" post above.......; 9/28/12, 11:46 PM