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The Royal Wedding: It's the optics, stupid

 

 "The guys in the office are pretty stoked about the Aston Martin the Royal couple just drove around in," twittered CNN Showbiz Tonight reporter Brittany Kaplan a couple of minutes ago as the newly minted Duke and Duchess of Cambridge motored off from the first royal wedding reception to Clarence house with Prince William at the wheel, the getaway car bedecked with ribbons and trailing balloons. "He's making one of the points they wanted to make," added another CNN commentor on the scene near Buckingham Palace: Amidst all the glamor, "he wants to feel freer, in charge, trying to create a sense of normalcy." A "People's Princess" kind of thing, but with decorum. (AP Photo)

"Most Worthless Breaking News Alert Ever?' headlined Steve L. Taylor at Outside the Beltway, signaling fellow members of the Fuddy-Duddy community that for discerning fellows like himself, the pageantry and romance of Wills's and Kate's royal wedding that had filled the airwaves and swelled hearts and tear ducts around the world — an estimated two billion watched — early morning (ET) were a trivial distraction from more important matters. Like Stacy McCain's little Princess, we ourselves were enraptured, but Taylor and a lot of opinionators out there in the twittersphere, blogosphere and on TV — yes you, Shepard Smith — missed the story: It's the optics, stupid. "It was just so lovely to watch," said one CNN commenter. Swept up in the overwhelming sense of community and good humor amongst well wishers outside Buckingham Palace following the Westminster Abbey ceremony, she got the scoop:

The couple is being seen by so many as England's future.

And despite a sluggish economy and the indignities of socialized medicine, that future's looking up. We're reminded of the Duke of Cambridge's great grandmother, the  Queen Mother Elizabeth, who "helped the House of Windsor survive the abdication crisis and cheered Britons on through the horrors of World War II." They say young William has learned from the experience of his parents, tragically exploited throughout their ill-fated marriage by a predatory media. We liked Monica Crowley's take:

The fact that the marriage of Diana and Charles collapsed most spectacularly has a lot of us rooting for his son and his new bride. Kate is adorable, and the two of them look like they really are marrying for love and not for some palace-directed purpose.

There is a lot of hate flying around these days. It's nice to see some true love once in a while. It exists. It was on our televisions (very) early this morning. President Obama once talked of "hope and change." I think William and Kate represent it more truly: hope that their union survives and thrives, and a generational change to a hopelessly stuffy monarchy.

Update: Astute observations from our dear friend Miss Kelly in the comments:

As a good Catholic, I enjoy and respect pageantry, and this event had it in spades. The beautiful music, the architecture of the cathedral, the happy and orderly crowds, the attire and varied uniforms all signifying order, hierarchy, symmetry, beauty - it's the sort of event that says there is order in the world and the adults are in charge again.

Update II: Couldn't resist our British twitterfriend The Aged P's "Reflections":

The sheer enthusiasm and goodwill of the people who came to watch disarmed my pessimism … They came as individuals, families, neighbours and friends of their own free will to celebrate a joyous event. They came with banners, flags and placards that proclaimed a patriotic pride and messages of affection and goodwill for two young people who were about to make a public pledge of love and commitment … It augurs well for the future, I fancy … This is a woman who comes from a loving family and therefore knows how to love.

They sound kinda like Tea Party folks on this side of the pond.

Update III: CNN's Brit corrrespondent Richard Quest has the last word:

This was the restoration of the House of Windsor!

Update IV: Instalanche:

Is it all about the optics?

Crossposted at Riehl World View and Liberty Pundits.

"Pain is the price of love"

"Pain is the price of love," our dear friend C Ward wrote a few days ago, sharing our eternal sadness at the loss of our precious Tiny. Above, the gaping, sap-weeping wound slashing through the very heartwood of a major branch of our grand old Silver Maple in the wake of the last big snowstorm of winter a few weeks back. Talk about the psychological landscape.

"My precious 'outdoor room,' The Maple Court shaped by [the] grand old silver maple shading our terrace, has been destroyed by overpruning. Tears," we twittered last August in the wake of a tree surgeon's visit. Now another major bough has been lopped off, made necessary by a cruel trick of Mother Nature herself, who sent a late-winter storm of water-laden snow to these parts.

Sarah Palin redraws the electoral map: "The 2012 election starts here" in Madison, WI

"Hello Madison, Wisconsin! Woo. You look good. I feel like I'm at home. This is beautiful." Sarah Palin welcomed a grateful mini-multitude of Tea Partiers braving snow and rain to greet the Mama Grizzly of All Mama Grizzlies at the steps of the State House this afternoon. "These are the frontlines in the battle for the future of our country. This is where the line in the sand has been drawn, and I am proud to stand with you today in solidarity." LOVE that anti-statist Polish trade union reference! Update: Transcript.

Sorry, Iowa and New Hampshire. Sarah Palin just redrew the electoral map in a rousing challenge to President Obama's creeping statist agenda in front of the State House in Madison, Wisconsin this afternoon. We watched and live-tweeted her Tea Party keynote. A few excerpts from our own and others' tweets (hard keeping up! Will link later when a transcript becomes available) to give you the flavor:

Our president isn't leading … the only future that Barack Obama is looking to win is his reelection.

You ignored us in 2010, but you cannot ignore us in 2012. You willfully ignored the will of the American people. You ignored it when you rammed through Obamacare …

Madison, you defended that 2010 electoral mandate. You are heroes. You are patriots.

The 2012 election begins here. We will take the courage and the integrity that you showed all of America.

We will fight for America. And it starts here in Madison, WI. It starts here. It starts now. Mr. President, GAME ON.

"Whaddya think, Jim? She going for it?" Melissa Clouthier twittered James Pethokoukis following the speech. Jimmie P's (that's what Larry Kudlow calls him) reply:

Talked to someone other day who knows Palin. Said he didn't know if she'd run. Sounded like a candidate today … In addition, she may not know yet. Won't run traditional campaign if she does.

"Sarah never does anything in the traditional way!" we protested. The conventional wisdom had it that the President himself had opened campaign season with his tin-eared, confrontational debt-reduction speech Wednesday, but disintermediating the powers that be via her own eclectic mix of media old and new, "shooting to where it's going, not to where it's been," Palin once again caught traditionalists off guard.

A special shout out to Brian of The Right Scoop for providing the timely live feed for all of us insatiable consumers of political fodder.

Update: Forgot to mention the parallel story picked up from twitterbuddy Michael Haz, who was on the scene:

Protestors blowing sirens, drumming, cowbells, whistles to drown out free speech … giving Palin the finger … closing in. Right behind me. Screaming. Ringing bells. I can smell them.

Update II: Story trending on Memeorandum. Update to the update: Top story next day!

Update III: Michelle Malkin Buzzworthy link!

Update IV: Quote of the Day Honorable Mention from Josh Painter at Texas for Sarah Palin.

Update V: Professor Jacobson links in a triumphant "Fight Like A Girl":

But even more than that, Palin took a phrase usually considered an insult and turned it into a compliment.

In one sentence, Palin did more to advance the cause of women in politics than all the Women's Studies Ph.D's in all the universities in this country combined.

Update: Sissy Willis reminds us of the day.

Crossposted at Riehl World View, Cloven Not Crested and Liberty Pundits.

Will "Who is John Galt?" be the "Hope and Change" of tomorrow?

"It's us [sic] who move the world" Rex Harrison lookalike businessman of "intelligence, courage and integrity" Henry Rearden (Grant Bowler) tells his distaff counterpart Dagny Taggart (Taylor Schilling) in "Atlas Shrugged" the movie that opens at a theater near you — if you're lucky — today.

"If Peter Ingemi [master of DaTechguyBlog] had been with us, he'd be shooting videos and interviewing members of the audience as they left the theater," we joshed as we emerged, philosophically and emotionally refreshed, from the premiere screening of "Atlas Shrugged" at the local cinema this afternoon. Taking our cue from the master, we tried a few unfilmed mini-interviews, more about which below, but first, our take:

We loved the movie — riveting, glamorous, great performances by non-celebrity actors (what a relief it is not to be distracted by knowing the performers' political views), shot in a smoky and sensually-charged style reminiscent of our fave futuristic flick, "Bladerunner." Production values to die for. The music was pitch perfect, lots of new, tempered but emotionally charged material with a little Chopin and a few echoes of the classics thrown in, most memorably the doom sounds of Saint-Saëns's Organ Symphony at one momentous point in the story. To tempt you, an example of the understated wit and wisdom that energize the script: The hero's hoity-toity, frigid (funny old-fashioned term, but it fits) wife to the sizzling heroine who is in the process of sweeping her husband off his feet:

I LOVE your dress, dear. I was just saying the other day that it was high time that designer came back in style again.

Big Hollywood Editor Jim Nolte puts things in context:

While anti-American junk has flopped at a forever-pleasing 100% rate, well-made films that speak to our values and beliefs have been almost universally embraced … With social media, especially the miracle that is Twitter, a fire can start that completely circumvents the corrupt MSM and has an immediate effect at the box office …

While we have a long way to go, there is momentum on our side and this bodes very well for “Atlas Shrugged” … You can’t say Obama’s declaring war on business, though, because when it comes to picking and choosing who will win and who will lose, Obama’s a corporatist of the first order … and that’s the theme “Atlas Shrugged” speaks to.

Best of all, the production of the movie itself is faithful to its own themes: Risk and independence mixed with a touch of bravado. Yesterday’s L.A. Times tells the incredible story of how, after two decades of trying, someone bucked the Hollywood system and just did it — just made the damn movie.

"I remember reading Ayn Rand's book as a youth [when it was first published in 1957 in the US] and being heavily influenced in my thinking of how the world works," pater familias and constitutional conservative Goomp i-mailed this morning when we told him we were about to head out to be the first on our block to see the movie, opening today at 300 theaters across the country. From the moment we entered Loew's Cinema in Danvers, MA, there was electricity in the air. The ticket taker, a self-described independent, was eager to let us know that earlier viewers had loved the film. Following the show we chatted with an audience member who knew chapter and verse of all things Rand and confided to us that his girlfriend, a liberal, had wisely stayed home. There's nothing like species recognition. Same fellow feeling amongst folks from all walks of life that we'd picked up at town halls, tea party rallies and phone banks past. On the way out of the theater we spotted a likely gentleman waiting in line at the snackbar. "Who is John Galt?" we taunted. His face lit up in the tribal signal of acknowledgement between red staters seeking the light of the Shining City here in the darkness behind enemy lines in collectivist Taxachusetts.

And that was only Part I, a real cliff hanger. "I can hardly wait for Part II," says Tuck. The question is, will "Atlas Shrugged" break out of the cult category of true believers to capture the hearts and minds of the great unwashed? Will "Who is John Galt" become the "Hope and Change" of tomorrow?

Lots more at The Atlasphere, "the social networking and dating site [!] for admirers of Ayn Rand's novels."

Update: "I believe the ideas are more relevant than ever," John Fund tells Pajamas Media's Amy Holmes (h/t Common Cents). "This is one of those books that totally changed my life," adds Stephen Moore.

Update II: Little Miss Atilla gives thumbs up:

Sisu liked it as much as I did, noting the classical architecture porn, and lovely scoring.

Crossposted at Riehl World View and Liberty Pundits.

 

 

 

"I can conjure her up via the magic of memory whenever I wish"

A spirited and touching tribute to our precious Tiny from long-time Chelsea Gray afficionado Elisson of Lost in the Cheese Aisle.

"Although I never met Tiny face-to-face, she has been a part of my life for many years, thanks to the medium of blogging and the power of the Internet," Elisson wrote in the comments of our own Thursday tribute to the incandescent light that was Sweet Tiny Pea, "We lost our angel baby this morning":

Our lives will be the poorer for her passing, but we will have so many happy moments to look back on thanks to your talent for finding beauty in unexpected places.

We treasure every word of comfort from our friends. Thank you with all our heart for sharing our joy through the years and now our sorrow.

Update: "The cats of the early days of the catblogosphere are leaving us one by one" writes the Father of All Catbloggers, Laurence Simon, in a poignant tribute to all things bright and beautiful, borrowing Chris Muir's memorable "Cats have 10 lives … the 10th is our memory of them" for a headline:

And I don’t begrudge Nardo when he announces his arrival on the bed, pokes my hand with his nose, barks a little more, parks himself on my chest, stares me down, and tells me I haven’t met my petting-quota quite just yet.

Because one day, there won’t be any more quotas to fill or time left to fill them in.

We lost our angel baby this morning

Caption from a January 2009 post: We caught Tiny in a Rembrandt Moment this afternoon as she stared atop Tuck's computer at things we don't see in the countdown to supper. Update from Tuck in the comments: "Here is a masterpiece. This portrait speaks to the wonder of our beloved companions; here is a thinking, compassionate, responsive, introspective being."

We lost our angel baby this morning. Fifteen years old, not that old for a cat, but Sweet Tiny Pea had raged against the dying of the light for many years with a number of afflictions that never kept her down for long. "She enjoys being a cat," Tuck always said in delight and awe. Tiny took no prisoners, but Tuck's cat whispering would reduce her to drooling rapture. She was a force of nature, a brilliant athlete and the apple of her suitor, Earl Grey's eye. Last night and this morning when she refused food and was breathing with increasing difficulty, she seemed to be telling us it was time to join her brother, Baby Cakes the Magnificent, after too short a stay on this mortal coil. In remembrance, a republication of our March 2009 post "The Ecstasy of Sweet Tiny":

March 12, 2009. Sisu proudly presents the seventh folio in "The Ecstasy of Sweet Tiny" series. Click here for larger image. The full collection to date:

"Much like a wild rose"

Katzenjammer

The purple prose that is Obama's presidency

Tiny performs Meowzart 

Through a glass lightly 

Now the curtain opens on a portrait of today

The Ecstasy of Sweet Tiny

"There was nothing whatever to be seen on the twig"

Amazing grace.

The Vision of the Twig.

Cats see things we don't.

Update: Thank you dear friends, old and new, for your kind and comforting comments. From Chris Muir:

Cats have 10 lives … the 10th is our memory of them.

Update II: More bittersweet thoughts and memories:

"I can conjure her up via the magic of memory whenever I wish."

Update III: "We never really forget them, writes ailurophile Meryl Yourish in a bittersweet tribute with fluffericious photographs of her "Maine Coon orange boy … Tig, the goofball, who makes me laugh on a daily basis."

Where Eagles Care

Can't get enough of the Decorah Bald Eagle family drama — "The most alive is the wildest" — available for your viewing pleasure here. Reading into the couple's every encounter. So intense, so devoted to each other and their brood but not without moments of "Come on, honey, give me a break." They're just like us.

Changing of the guard in the early morning light.

Hey, girl, I've been out predating for hours.

Light of my life, but give me some down time on the nest, sweetbeak.

When love comes so strong …

Firsthatched moved beyond the brooding breast this afternoon toward the outer parts of the nest to peck away at the carcass of the crow brought in yesterday without the intercession of the parental beak to beak. They grow up so fast. Two eaglets, one egg to go.

"It's official. I must now hate the Paul Ryan budget. David Brooks is in luv with it"

"I asked the Congressional Budget Office to model the economy going forward" explains Rep Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, in "The Path to Prosperity: America's two futures, visualized."

You've read and committed to memory Paul Ryan's Wall Street Journal op ed. Now watch the video and help spread the word. Full "Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Resolution" here.

"So they have these computer programs that simulate the U.S. economy. The computer program crashes in 2027 because it can't conceive of any way in which the economy can continue because of this massive burden of debt."

Best comment so far comes from Erick Erickson this morning on Twitter. Be sure to check out his own analysis, "Paul Ryan is Not Jesus, But His Path To Prosperity Gospel is Really Good." Here's that tweet:

It's official. I must now hate the Paul Ryan budget. David Brooks is in luv with it.

Update: The Heritage Foundation quotes economist Alison Fraser in "How Paul Ryan Uses Heritage Analysis in His Budget Plan":

This is a monumental budget proposal for monumental times, and it opens a serious and necessary conversation about the future of our nation and its great legacy of freedom, opportunity, and self-government.

Update II: Thank you, Michelle Malkin, for Buzzworthy link!

Update III: Matt Lewis at The Daily Caller on "the politics behind how Ryan has presented his plan to the public":

It has become de rigueur for modern political campaigns (including President Obama’s) to employ web video, but I can’t recall another time when a policy debate this significant has incorporated video this effectively (let me know if you can think of an example).

Update IV: Ryan's WSJ Op Ed is top story on Memeorandum.

Crossposted at Riehl World View and Liberty Pundits.

"Sissy Willis uses Darwin to utterly demolish Marxism"

We loved twitter friend Dan Collins of POWIP AKA vermontaigne's disagreement with tahDeetz's assertion [above] re Leftists. "I disagree with the 'sane' thing." Exactly. As we twittered back, "To say 'keep sane' implies they ever WERE sane." But speaking of driving leftists over the edge, tahDeetz was spot on with this: Metaphorically WaterBoard your "favorite" Leftist. Make them read this.

"Sissy Willis uses Darwin to utterly demolish Marxism," twittered tahDeetz this afternoon. We'd sent her a link to one of our uber posts from way back in February of 2005, "Bloggers are 'cracking, popping, drilling and peeling their victims open." Take THAT, you leftists claiming to own Darwin even as your core collectivist beliefs fly in the face of the economic logic of nature and human nature that underlies Darwin's theory of natural selection. A few excerpts from our original post:

February 2005 caption: A "snail link" — an article from the NYT Science Times that caught our politico-philosopho-scientific eye ten years ago.  Not having the option of URL linking in those pioneering days, this protoblogger clipped the thing, underlined important passages, sent xeroxed copies to our small circle of interested parties and then carefully filed it away in a drawer, from which we were able to pull it this afternoon after all these years.

From our February 2005 post "Bloggers are 'cracking, popping, drilling and peeling their victims open":

"Meanwhile, the fossil record showed crabs, fish and others who would dine on these shelled delicacies diversifying and becoming better at cracking, popping, drilling and peeling their victims open," goes the snail link from February 7, 1995, referred to in our last post. For ten years this brilliant/crackpot explanation has been festering in our brain. We're talking here about what went wrong with the Democrats, not to mention their leftist allies in academia, the MSM and the larger world of international progressivists.

… leftists have become soft and flabby in their thinking over the last 20, 30 or more years because their fellow travelers in the mainstream media — supposed to be keeping them honest — have been giving them a free ride, even as thinkers of the right, not enjoying such reflexive support, have been honing our debating and intellectual survival skills. That leaves the left soft and lazy and the right battle ready. Enter the bloggers, stage right. As paleontologist Dr. Vermeij might say, "It isn't going to be pretty." Googling the good doctor, we were thrilled to see his field studies of animal evolution had led him to very much the same place Thomas Sowell has come to in his studies of economics.

It took a little longer than we'd thought it would for what turned out to be the Tea Party movement of constitutional conservatism to emerge and start reigniting the lights of the Shining City, but our words back then are standing up pretty well given the reverberations of the Revolution of 2010.

Crossposted at Riehl World View and Liberty Pundits.

"Not yet tamed by man, it refreshes him"

The bald eagles of Decorah, Iowa, have landed and won the hearts and minds of a grateful nation. We've had the RaptorResource UStream live cam on the desktop since yesterday afternoon. There were three eggs in the nest last night, then two eggs, one shattered shell and a brand new eaglet (see below) early morning.

So glad Ben Franklin lost out on this one. You may recall the First among equals of the Founding Fathers had lobbied for our native Wild Turkey, lord of the Thanksgiving groaning board, to represent the Shining City Upon a Hill as the National Bird.

Mom and dad take turns roosting and hunting … Dramatic when one or the other flies in … Wonder which task is more strenuous, tending the nest with its high winds and egg-tooth deliveries or flying off in search of protein to restock the family larder? Either way, they're traveling the road, sharing their load. Stacy McCain and Little Miss Attila of DaTechGuy on DaRadio's feminist-rhetoric face-off fame, take note.

Light of their lives, the first little wobbly chick arrived overnight. At a time like this, our favorite Henry Thoreau quote always comes to mind:

The most alive is the wildest. Not yet subdued to man, its presence refreshes him.

Be prepared, oh animal lovers, for brutally butchered carcasses of cute and fuzzy creatures that will break your heart. What appears to be a wild rabbit above, lower left.

Parents peck away at the innards of the prey and then regurgitate from beak to beak in a timeless ritual bonding. Life goes on.

We didn't want to go there, but this bit of prey has all the earmarks of the family cat. Talk about red in tooth and claw.

Update: Paul B in the comments points us to live action via the Eagle Cam of the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, where a local nesting pair dined recently on duck:

While fish provides the bulk of a bald eagle’s diet, they are opportunistic and will take advantage of many different food sources.

Crossposted at Riehl World View and Liberty Pundits.