The final GOP debate before the Florida primary was as entertaining and combative as was expected, with lots of fireworks and sharp contrasts being painted by each candidate against the others. At the outset it looked like it was going to be a tiring tit-for-tat between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, but that ended pretty quickly after Rick Santorum (displaying a far more combative and colorful persona than he has to date) brought everyone back to earth and refused to let moderator Wolf Blitzer play willing antagonist. While the debate was far better than Monday night’s snoozefest - primarily because the audience’s questions were excellent, putting old Wolf to shame - there’s just no point in expecting any debate hosted by the main TV networks or cable channels to be anything than “gotcha” questions asked for the purposes of a cheap sound bite.

Still, any good gundown has winners and losers, and there were some tonight. Given the theme of this post, let’s rate them with bullets:

1. Mitt Romney (4 bullets). Not because he had a better debate than all the others (that goes to Rick Santorum, for which I’ll explain below), but because Santorum did so well compared to Newt Gingrich. If the sense was that Newt hit his ceiling after winning the South Carolina, partly because of the Romney’s attacks at the Monday debate, partly because Newt once again drifted off message and back into dream-weaving, Romney’s performance was enough to keep that going. Last night showed a more forceful Romney while displaying the same annoying weaknesses that Republicans and conservatives tear their hair out over: he got caught not knowing one of his ads criticized Gingrich out of context, and he got absolutely pistol-whipped by Santorum on RomneyCare. Still, he had good answers on his private sector experience, and he showed a more human side to him on the (stupid) Blitzer question on how his wife would make a good First Lady. His answer on why he was the most qualified to beat Barack Obama was solid, if not totally convincing. Because Newt didn’t win, Romney wins on points.

2. Rick Santorum (3 bullets). Santorum was much more animated, more substantial, and thus better able to separate himself from Gingrich and Romney last night than he had been able to do previously. Most will think he came out ahead in terms of style and substance, but one can’t help feel that this is all too little, too late for him. Unless GOP voters suddenly (and overwhelmingly) decide that both Romney and Gingrich are so flawed as candidates they can’t trust or take a chance on either of them, I don’t see Santorum as a major player in the primaries going forward. Lacking the money and the organization, a good debate alone is just not going to propel him anywhere at this juncture.

3. Ron Paul (2 bullets). Same Ron Paul. If you love him, nothing he can do will change your mind. To me he looked more pale and tired than usual. Got in his usual effective one-liners and quips that endear him to his following, but he’s not going to win the nomination.

4. Newt Gingrich (1 bullet). Newt needed a big performance tonight and came up short. Started off going negative on Romney before turning on Wolf Blitzer with another blame-the-moderator response that seemed forced and awkward (ultimately leading to a Romney counterpunch that left Newt ducking for cover), then spent the rest of the debate again emphasizing his Washington experiences in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. When Newt concentrates on substance and problem-solving, he’s the best up there, but lately this continous walk through the Reagan and Clinton administrations just makes him seem like a well-connected Washington insider living out past gun battles. I’ve counted out Newt before, so I’m hesitant to do it again, but his star seems to be fading, and fast.

So there you have it. Thankfully, there are no more debates for a month! My prediction is that Romney wins Florida by 7-8 points, which will send conservatives into a panic. In the unlikely event Newt arises again, it will only be because of a GOP repudiation of Mitt Romney and the thought of nominating yet another weak-kneed, spineless moderate as the nominee.

Make no mistake about it: the fear and trembling in conservative quarters is palpable and could turn into full-blown panic if Romney wins Florida. Santorum’s campaign is on fumes, and while Paul will continue to rack up enough delegates to make him a player at the August convention, no one seriously considers him a viable nominee. There’s a huge schism forming in the Republican Party - a lot of conservatives (count me among them) very worried about Romney in a head-to-head match against Barack Obama, and it’s not out of the question that someone like Indiana governor Mitch Daniels (who gave a boffo GOP response to Obama’s State Of The Union address the other night) could be prodded to enter late with the goal of gathering momentum into the convention and being a brokered choice everyone could get behind. I’d love to see that happen…

…says Cosmo the rabbit.

So I think I will.

Oh, but before I go, thank you,Governor Brewer! Someone needs to stand up for a state under repeated and concerted attack by the President and the Attorney General of this country. I wish the GOP in Washington woul show the same kind of fortitude.

It looks like last night might be the last sub-40 night the NWS is expecting for the rest of the winter here in the Valley of the Sun. The extended forecast says we may even hit 80 for the first time the weekend after this, and once it does that it starts the steady climb of the highs and lows for each day. I’ve got baby limes already starting on my tree, and the air yesterday had just a hint of sweetness, so Arizona spring can’t be far away.

Still, for many, it’s the dead of winter, so here’s a poem more in keeping with January, hope you like it:

“Clouded with snow
The cold winds blow,
And shrill on leafless bough
The robin with its burning breast
Alone sings now.

The rayless sun,
Day’s journey done,
Sheds its last ebbing light
On fields in leagues of beauty spread
Unearthly white.

Thick draws the dark,
And spark by spark,
The frost-fires kindle, and soon
Over that sea of frozen foam
Floats the white moon.”
- Walter de La Mare, Winter

Hat tip: egreenway.com

Tonight’s GOP debate hosted by NBCPolitics.com was, in a long list of poorly-conceived and moderated debates, the worst of them all. Brian Williams ought to be ashamed of himself for committing the one cardinal offense you can make in the television/entertainment industry: being boring. Let me ask you something: how on God’s green earth can you moderate a GOP presidential debate without asking any questions - not one - about the current Commander-in-Chief? Nothing about the federal debt. Nothing about the “Fast and Furious” scandal and a senior Department of Justice official announcing on Friday he was taking the 5th at the next Congressional hearing. Nothing about the President’s State of the Union address tomorrow evening. Nothing about the Keystone pipeline decision.

What did we get instead? Questions about sugar subsidies (!), the Terri Schiavo controversy of a few years back, a bizarre question about what if China and Cuba switched places - bizarre questions that offered no sense of the issues facing this country or how the candidates might differ from Barack Obama. It was boring, unsubstantial, and a waste of time. Everyone knows Brian Williams is an avowed leftist and his network the #1 Barack Obama ass-kisser, but if you want to host a GOP debate to begin with, shouldn’t you at least give what little journalism chops you might have left have some self-respect?

Conservative commentator David Limbaugh, I think, summed up the night’s proceedings best when he tweeted at the debate’s close: “No one won the debate because there wasn’t a debate. To say someone did win is to accept the false premise that there was one.” Indeed. Shame on Brian Williams, shame on NBC, and, most of all, shame on the GOP candidates for allowing such a snoozefest to take place.

Given all of the above, there were winners and losers to tonight’s debate:

1. Mitt Romney. If Romney ends up winning the GOP nomination and beating Barack Obama in the general election, he’ll have one person to thank - Newt Gingrich. Gingrich’s ascension in the polls, culminating in Romney’s crushing defeat in South Carolina, was the best thing that could have happened to him. While he missed some obvious chances to blast Brian Williams for his inane questions, he nevertheless was sharp, to the point, and pointed in his criticism of Gingrich when he had his chance at the opening of the debate. Was the first candidate to mention our nation’s debt crisis. Took my advice and wiped that stupid grin off his face, replacing it with a slighter smirk, and was forceful in his defense of his own private sector success. His last answer about the seven things he’s do to get the economy moving were crisp and to the point. The bad news is that few, if any, actually watched this debate, the good news is that the commentary on his performance will likely stop his campaign’s bleeding and even turn it back around a bit.

2. Ron Paul. Not a winner, not a loser. He was just there. Typical answers to typical questions. He’s not even campaigning in Florida, and seems to have hit his ceiling in terms of support, so tonight he was just taking up space.

3. Newt Gingrich. Had numerous opportunities to question the inanity of some of Williams’ questions but for whatever reason chose to do not. Romney hammered him hard at the outset about being a Washington insider, lobbyist, and influence peddler, and that seemed to knock Newt off his stride. While he had some decent answers to questions as the “debate” went on, his performance and persona seemed subdued throughout, making him to appear like just another old and tired career politician. Wouldn’t be surprised if today’s polls out of Florida following his SC win are his campaign’s high-water mark.

4. Rick Santorum. Had the most to gain tonight by being forceful and attacking the almost-embarassingly liberal slant of Williams’ questions but instead just repeated the same old positions in the same old way. I’ve come to realize his strengths are as a legislator proposing legislation and debating the same by opponents. He simply can’t let go of policy and talk to people’s concerns and pocketbooks. Time to say goodnight, Rick.

Three weeks down, three weeks to go on my six-week “Cure For The Middle-Aged Middle” diet, and the scale says I’ve lost three more pounds. I’m down to 157, making it thirteen so far, three over my goal of losing ten pounds. Obviously, I’m thrilled. I haven’t weighed less than 160 in I don’t know how long.

To tell you the truth, I was surprised to drop the additional pounds, as the past week (the first of the diet’s two “meat weeks”) has been filled with little more than chicken, beef, and pork in a variety of ways (soup, meatloaf, chili), plus eggs and a small amount of their recommended veggies cooked with a bit of olive oil. But, with the exception of Saturday (when, in the Lenten tradition of a Laetere Sunday, I permitted myself an additional glass of wine and - gasp! - a little bit of chocolate to reward myself for good behavior these past few weeks), I’ve stuck to the diet faithfully and haven’t found myself feeling wanting in any way.

While I haven’t noticed the additional weight loss, I have noticed additional, albeit small improvement in how my clothes fit. I have a Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville “The Weather Is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful” t-shirt that I had stopped wearing because I didn’t like my paunchy look in it; now I can wear it and it doesn’t even fit sung. Pants that used to require a little tug to fasten slip on easily. To me, that’s reward enough. I’m still craving wacky things like macaroni and cheese, cheese and crackers, beef enchiladas, and spaghetti and meatballs, but I tell myself my time will come when I can have these kinds of things in moderation.

So where to from here? Week four will be similar to the past week, with lots of meat meals with continued recommended exercises and vitamin supplements. Next week I plan a physical and blood test to see how various numbers might have improved along with the weight loss as I enter the final two weeks of the diet, which is setting up the maintenance program I plan on following after that. More on that when the time comes.

Bottom line: this diet has been an unqualified success, not so much because of the weight loss itself (which is important), but, more importantly, I’m learning how to eat better (and less) and what kinds of foods and food ingredients to avoid - for example, all refrigerator and pantry items containing high-fructose corn syrup have been tossed out, and when I go to the supermarket I’m actually reading labels. The recipes for this diet also have me cooking using different techniques than I have in the past, which has been interesting. It is definitely an eye-opener when it comes to my diet in the past and what I plan to keep on following going forward.

…it’s been more than three weeks since I’ve had a boat drink. Now THAT’S something to look forward to when I get to Vegas in less than three weeks!

What a difference a week makes.

Hard to believe just a week ago the Beltway pundits were all ready to coronate Mitt Romney as the de facto GOP nominee. Now, after getting crushed in South Carolina by a resurgent Newt Gingrich, all the pressure is on Romney to sell himself anew to Republican primary voters. He ought to know by now that the cool, business-savvy persona isn’t going to play this year: conservatives and Republican voters have had enough of a “Massachusetts moderate” schmoozer who plays get-along with a mainstream dino-media that openly shows its disdain for Republicans and conservatives. This year, GOP primary voters want a fighter who isn’t afraid to call out Barack Obama, his mainstream media ass-kissers, and the milquetoast Republican establishment in Washington out for what they are. As Hugh Hewitt writes:

The South Carolina electorate didn’t vote for a person or a platform; they voted for a personality — the fiery, combative, [mainstream media]-hating Newt. They want the GOP nominee to charge at the president, throw around the term Alinksyite, push back at John King and Juan Williams, and shout out the absurdity of Barack Obama as president and the destructiveness of his combination of epic incompetence and awful ideology.

I suspect that the GOP as a whole has a lot of this pent-up anger at the Manhattan-Beltway media elites, and they too have been cool to cool hand Mitt as a result.

As National Review Online’s Terence Jeffrey adds:

Conservatives not only resent the liberal media for trying to pick the Republican nominee (n.b. the media prefer Romney) but they also resent Republican politicians who, once elected, spend their careers appeasing the media while abandoning conservative principles (n.b. the supine leadership of the Republican party in the House of Representatives). Conservatives want a president whose attitude toward the media matches the attitude Gingrich has shown in recent debates. A president with that kind of attitude, they hope, might actually govern as a conservative.

As I alluded to on last Friday’s post after the Thursday night debate, if Romney wants to win the GOP nomination, he’s going to need some significant re-tooling of his message. As an amateur political consultant, here is what I would recommend:

1. Let Newt be Newt. Rather than go after Gingrich hard and negative, I would use my business experience to highlight the differences between you and he when it comes to getting this country’s fiscal house in order. Pound away at the deficit by personalizing to individual Americans what it would mean if this country continues down the reckless spending and borrowing road it is traveling. Comnpare this nation’s debt to something people can relate to - like the iceberg in front of the Titanic. Talk about the danger to people’s stock market investments and 401K plans if Obama is re-elected President. But more than anything, make it personal. You’ll never be one of “the people”, but you can use language that the “regular folks” understand to contrast your “disciplined approach” to Newt’s “grandiose ideas”.

2. Get rid of that weird, smug, used-car dealer half-smile you have while people are asking you questions. Project the kind of serious businessman demeanor you might have used at Bain Capital when reviewing a failing company’s ledgers. You’ve spent the better part of eight months acting as if the nomination was yours for the keeping, you now have to project a more serious and fighting demeanor without being seen as shrill, negative, and panicky.

3. Go after Barack Obama with specifics - people don’t understand “European-style socialism”, and it’s not as if there isn’t plenty to talk about: the blood on his administration’s hands as a result of the “Fast and Furious” gun-running scandal, the loss of billions of dollars in betting on “green energy” companies like Solyndra and others; the Keystone pipeline decision; Obamacare and its impact on Medicare; the administration’s undelared war on South Carolina, Alabama, Texas, and Arizona over voting laws and immigration, just to name a few. Get specific - that’s why Gingrich’s “food stamp President” line resonated so well with SC voters.

4. More than anything else, release your damned taxes and use it to tell your personal story. You’re a successful businessman, for God’s sake. Use your tax return as a way to tell your story about success. Make it a story that individual people can relate to. Show some humility and make the case that your story shows what any American can do if they work hard enough and educate themselves enough. Forget about the Occupy Wall Street losers; the fact is, American love to make money so they can buy things. Frame your success as a story that others can identify with, make it something like this: “Look, if I can do it, you can do it too, but if you don’t elect someone like me who will change the direction this country is going, no one, not me, not you - will be able to make it in America”.

Fortunately for you, Mitt, the odds are still with you and Gingrich remains a flawed candidate capable of self-destructing at any moment. But another debate where you’re hemming and hawing about your tax returns and not getting into specifics about where the problems are and what you’ll do to fix them if elected, and I’m afraid you’re in for more than a bloody nose.

Given that it looks like we’re free and clear here in the Valley of the Sun as far as near-freezing nights go, so this weekend will be spent doing outside chores and getting everything ready for the landscapers winter pruning in the next couple of weeks.

Glad frequent commenter Jana survived the severe storms and tornadoes that passed close to Louisville on Tuesday and Thursday. I remember when we lived there the worst severe storm we got was during the January 3 outbreak of 2000. It was weird watching the TV and the meterologist telling you exactly the cross streets and neighborhoods where the tornado was passing through.

I agree with the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham: I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Sox make a big move and trade third baseman Kevin Youkilis before the start of spring training. The Sox need to clear some salary in order to beef up their starting rotation, and he’s the player with the most value. Watch the Tigers, now that they’ve lost Victor Martinez for the year with a torn ACL.

The big political question of the day: how does Mitt Romney regain his stride? I don’t understand why he’s had so much trouble with the whole Bain Capital and tax return issues. There’s nothing wrong with turning his opponents’ arguments around by defending his success in life as a result of his hard work, primarily in the private sector. This primary season should have been a slam dunk for him, but he’s made a total mess of things. There’s a flaw there, not sure what it is. Still plenty of time for him to turn it around, though…

I’ll be surprised if Newt Gingrich’s latest surge lasts.

But Ron Paul I can see staying right to the end and becoming a major player at GOP convention. He’s going to have beaucoups chips to play before this is all over.

Have to agree with Mark Levin on this one: if the mainstream dino-media is going to probe into every nook and cranny about every GOP candidate’s history, I want them to do the same to Barack Obama. But I won’t hold my breath…

Was never much of a fan of Southwest Airlines, this story will make me even less so. Here’s an idea to save money: why not just eliminate seats altogether and have people stand while strapped against poles?

R.I.P. Etta James. She had a hard life, but what a voice. “At Last” is one of my all-time fave tunes of the doo-wop era.

Another debate, another debate without any question about the biggest issue facing the United States of America today: the fact that we’re awash in debt to the tune of $15 trillion - that’s $15,033,607,255,920.32 as of two months ago. I myself don’t understand it, but evidently the mainstream dino-media elites think that money grows on trees, or that it’s not really a problem. Of course, when you spend all your waking moments inside the Beltway or in New York City, it’s easy to think the federal government can just go on and on and on printing money and the Federal Reserve and China buying up our debt as we kick the can further and further down the road to total economic collapse.

Certainly, Newt Gingrich’s prior marital problems trump anything like that when it comes to presidential politics!

But I digress.

While tonight’s debate was just as entertaining as Fox News’ Monday night affair, it continues to amaze how, nearly eight months after the first GOP debate (has it been that long?) the same questions are still being asked over and over: immigration, abortion, Obamacare. Not that these aren’t important in and of themselves, but this is all well-trampled ground by now. There were no questions about the federal deficit, no questions about the candidates’ plans to cut the size of the federal government, no questions about trade, no questions about energy independence (how Obama’s rejection of the Keystone pipeline wasn’t brought up as an issues astounds, but then again we are talking about the Clinton News Network).

Still, as good as all the candidates were - and I believe, by and large, they were all pretty good tonight - there were winners and losers.

1. Ron Paul - I can’t believe I’m wring this, but Paul won the debate by constantly focusing every one his responses, no matter what the question, to the fiscal mess were in and the misguided priorities and policies of this country. I liked his theme that the very cause of personal freedom is something that can bring people of various political and philosophical stripes together. Because of his continued focus on the gravity of our fiscal house, he’s a winner in my eyes.

2. Mitt Romney - Not as much of a winner, more of a draw, perhaps, but Romney I think did next best. Why he has such problems answering questions about his taxes is beyond me: you’d think he’s have a ready stock answer that was definitive and forceful by now. Still, he kept the focus of most of his answers on Barack Obama, so he’s more a winner than a loser.

3. Newt Gingrich - Unlike (I’m guessing) most conservatives, I didn’t think Newt was as good tonight as he was on Monday. While he was his usual glib self and had some good answers (especially regarding Obamacare and immigration), he looked and sounded old to me. Too many answers about what he did in the ’70s and ’80s, too much “inside baseball” political talk, and he never responded to Rick Santorum’s comments about why he was tossed out as Speaker only five years after being elected to that position. He might indeed win South Carolina, but he’s going to have a lot of trouble relating to young people and independent voters if he’s the nominee.

4. Rick Santorum - Newly crowned winner of the Iowa caucuses, again, too much talk about his positions and what he did when and where. Hard to tell what his actual positions are. Spent all his ammo on the other candidates (Mitt and Newt in particular) and very little on Barack Obama. Obviously bright and very intense, but it’s always about him and not about who he would be running against in a general election. I know he’s trying to appeal to the conservative base, but I think he’s running out of time and out of votes.

Final analysis: No one really harmed themselves tonight except Santorum. I expect Romney and Newt to virtually tie in South Carolina, with Paul a distant third and Santorum coming in last. Santorum will last until Florida, perhaps Nevada, and then there will be three.

I’ve broached this topic in the past, but no one listens to The Great White Shank. In that same vein, Liz Peek’s column in the Financial Times is worth (pardon the pun) more than “a peek”.

Forget the stupid “1% vs. 99%” sloganeering of the Occupy Wall Street clowns, the real divide in this country is between the public sector unions and the states, municipalities, and the taxpayers across the country who have to pay for outrages like this (hat tip: Free Republic). And if you think the PSUs are going to give up one inch of the ground they have gained without protest (both non-violent and violent) you’re dreaming. For, as Peek writes:

Progress like that is taking place elsewhere, but not always so civilly. Governor [Scott] Walker’s efforts to rein in unsustainable public employee costs in Wisconsin (and to reduce a sizeable budget deficit) became the rallying point for terrified union leaders who see their only growth opportunity – public employees – under attack. Though Walker proposed terms that were still more generous than the national averages, his attempts to limit collective-bargaining rights (like 24 other states) aroused labor’s fury. Union leaders struck back, rallying workers from across the country to their cause; they are now trying to force the governor from office.

Another battle pitching organized labor vs. the public interest is the effort to join our competitors in expanding trade deals with other countries. President Obama finally signed trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama which had languished in Congress for years, held up by unions. Even the labor-friendly Obama administration had targeted such pacts as essential to boosting exports and jobs.

These confrontations have left Big Labor bruised but unbowed, and eager to turn public anger elsewhere. They have nurtured and funded the Occupy Wall Street protests for just that reason, ginning up resentment against the “one percent” and especially against banks and bankers. Better to raise taxes on the wealthy than to cut government payrolls. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which has over one million members and much to lose from widespread government reform efforts, has been especially eager to support the protests. Stephen Lerner, a highly regarded union organizer and former SEIU official, spoke to students at Pace University last March about his plan to “destabilize” the country through civil disobedience, strikes and large-scale protests. Acknowledging that labor was under pressure and needed to stay out of the spotlight, he insisted that students and community groups take the lead. Welcome to OWS.

Look, I have no problem paying police, firefighters, and state HHS organizations what they earn (not necessarily what they collectively bargained); at least here in Arizona the majority of them do a great job. But others (and most especially, the teachers unions and the bureaucrats) know how to game the system and have been doing it and looting the taxpayers for years.

As long as the states, municipalities, and, of course, the federal government have had the ability to raise taxes on virtually every kind of thing you can imagine, the PSUs have been innculated by the scams they are. But the problem with liberalism in any and all of its forms is that sooner or later you start running out of things to tax, and when that happens (or the economy starts to slow) the greed, graft, corruption, and cronyism necessary to keep the PSU boat afloat starts to take on water.

And greed is at the very core of the PSUs: they love to howl and protest about how police, firefighters and education (after all, children are our future, you know…) will all suffer if even $1 of spending is cut from anywhere, but the only thing they’re really concerned about are their already-grotesque fat-cat compensation packages. It’s all about more money and more benefits, to hell with the fiscal health of the states and municipalities that employ them. With the PSUs it’s all about THEM.

The good news is, as Peek mentions in her column, the tide is turning, primarily because there is no more money. The federal government is some $15 trillion in debt. States like New York, California, and Illinois are like the European Union, on the brink of fiscal disaster. And you can bet you’ll see more of this in 2012 as whole cities (Detroit is a sure thing) declare bankruptcy or make draconian (and I mean true draconian) cuts in services. Of course, you can bet that Democrats from the Atlantic to the Pacific will try and find new avenues of revenue - gas taxes, plastic shopping bags, sales tax increases, etc., but the facts are that the cupboards are almost bare, and facts, as they say, are stubborn things.

My prediction is you’re going to see a sometimes violent pushback from the PSUs this coming year. They’re desperate, they know their time in the sun is running out, and, tough words and threats aside, they’re scared. And they oughta be.

I think Dave E knows more about walleye than I do, but I needed a word with a “W” and he’s such a happy looking fish that I couldn’t resist.

Edmund Morris’ “Colonel Roosevelt” is just as good as his first two books in his TR trilogy. It’s a great read. I’ve bought them all separate, but the bundle would make a great gift for someone interested in reading about a President who, unlike the current media-created fraud occupying the Oval Office, truly was larger than life.

In the mail: Mark Levin’s “Ameritopia”. His “Liberty and Tyranny” ought to be required reading in every classroom civics class (if they even have them anymore); I have no doubt Levin’s latest will be just as good.

This is actually pretty funny but true. Wikipedia has almost everything you need to know at a moment’s notice. Still, over the years I’ve learned that you link to it only if you can’t find a better website elsewhere. It’s like anything else - let the so-called buyer beware. I would hardly call it the gospel on anything, but for a quick reference it’s invaluable.

Have you noticed that the days are already getting longer?

While I feel bad for Rob, his LSU Tigers and New Orleans Saints all losing their big games over the past two weeks, even he would agree that this weekend promises some really great football to watch.

One of the reasons why I enjoy Instapundit so much is you get cool links like this.

More evidence that the “Occupy Wall Street” movement has had its fifteen minutes of fame. If all you can get on a national holiday in the nation’s capital is several hundred protesters, that ain’t sayin’ much. Of course, tossing a smoke bomb over the White House fence isn’t likely to garner you a whole lot of friendly attention, either, but these losers have been out of bounds for a long time now.