Wednesday, July 29, 2009
"Blue Dogs" Are "Lap Dogs"
Dear Friend:
House Democrats have cut a deal on healthcare reform with the Blue Dog Democrats.They meet this afternoon to mark up their bill and rush it through the House of Representatives.There is still time to act.
Go here, put in your zip-code, call your Congressman, and tell him to oppose the Democrats' healthcare initiative.
Call now.
Sincerely yours,
Erick Erickson Editor,
RedState.com
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sotomayor is No Sarah Palin
My own view of Sotomayor is that she's the woman who graduated "summa cum laude" from Princeton . . . but has no idea how to pronounce . . . summa cum laude.
Sonia Sotomayor wildly mispronounced the common legal term "sui generis." She thought the first word had one syllable -- it has two -- and the second word had two syllables -- it has three. Latina, yes. Latin? Nope. Then she kept saying "eminent" when she meant "imminent." She also talked about her "story of knowledge," when she meant "store of knowledge."
Since Sarah has resigned her day job, maybe Obama could get her out of his hair by appointing her (instead of Sonia S.) to the Supreme Court? We could do worse. We ARE doing worse.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Barack Obama's Anti-Americanism
Also today for the first time, Obama's approval index (those strongly approving vs those strongly disapproving) was minus 11 at Rasmussen. His rating will probably always be higher than it should be because the majority of blacks will never admit the truth.
I think Jews might -- some of them. Sadly, some will fit the square peg into the round hole though and figure it is okay for Israel to give away part of Jerusalem -- and it works to make nice nice with Iran.
Seniors are realizing what he wants to do to their health and medicare. People are starting to understand that he is not about anything he said. When he refused to take public funding, when he has changed his mind about lobbyists, people should have already known (opensecrets.org) that as a junior senator Obama had already reached #2 on the entire contributions list after Chris Dodd from AIG, there has never been a president less transparent (maybe Nixon but not so sure).
The biggest hoax on America is that the people elected someone who really doesn't like America -- I honestly believe he really does hate America the way it is structured. He is an elitist who either doesn't know history or he wants to rewrite it in order to go with his socialist agenda. Change -- yes, he is for change -- change that scares the begeezus out of me.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
FOX News Should Wake Up
Notice Greta's continual comments on how this-or-that "is really going to raise your blood pressure . . . or get you angry." Frankly, raising the national blood pressure may cause more heart attacks, but it's not going to remove Obama from power. Organizing, calling our congressional representatives, donating money to conservative causes (e.g., www.sarahpac.com) are what will end the national nightmare.
For FOX or anyone else to suggest otherwise is just game-playing. Rush gave Greta a thumping the other night when she expressed her silly "hope" that Obama's Stimulus package, which she apparently knows nothing about, will work. Rush basically told her that a vague "hope" is for losers, and he's right.
As for Geraldo, who's a pro-illegals leftist with a history of grandstanding, he should not be on FOX or anything else. Anyone who spend one minute of his or her time watching "Geraldo" needs to find more productive things to do. There is not a conservative bone in Geraldo's body.
There are some great young people on FOX -- one is Patty Ann Browne on the Beck show, another is Greg Gutfield on their weekend late show, and others are Andrea Tantaros and S. E. Cupp -- but there many other big shots interested more in making millions than in winning the battle for America.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Rush Limbaugh: Palin's Powerful Ally
Yes, there are Republicans who have "problems" with Sarah Palin. Those were the people Limbaugh mentioned as the DC, NY, Boston "Republicans" (Olympia Snowe? Mitt Romney, Arlen Specter?) who have contempt for some 50 million Americans who always vote for the more conservative candidate. Half of those 50 million people listen to Rush . . . and share his views.
My Republican "friends" who dislike Palin -- or badmouth her -- rapidly become ex-friends. If you love America -- in all its complexity and sheer grittiness -- you are going to adore Sarah Heath Palin.
Rush Limbaugh is a critical ally for Sarah. His support is the way you win primaries in America . . . and his message of freedom, tolerance, love of country, and opportunity is the same as Sarah's message.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Palin v. Obama, Attitudes, Ideology
Atwater is often looked at as a highly ideological (conservative) political figure, but that's not exactly the case. Atwater believed that people voted much more on attitudes than on ideology. Atwater saw, for example, that Baby Boomer, with all their confidence and power, also had some feelings of guilt about environmental pollution.
He believed people were still putting emphasis on doing good (making money) but there was also a growing interest in being good (in what Christians call "good stewardship" of the earth). Atwater used his own love for rock and roll (and blues music) are a political pathway to young voters. A "good ole Southern boy" in so many ways, Atwater's hero (and one of his best friends) was . . . James Brown. In politics, Atwater, a chronic philanderer, would have seen Bill Clinton (a constant philanderer) as a political adversary . . . but a kindred soul on matters sexual.
The "attitudes rather than ideas" concept from Atwater is very important but rather slippery. People might not want to set the AC at 78 degrees, but they might put a brick in the toilet tank to save water. Modern culture does a great job of all making us feel guilty about various things. ("I have so much and THEY have so little.")
On more important matters, most people may be appalled at partial birth abortion and live-birth abortion, but they really (really) don't want to outlaw abortion. Also, they may be turned off by the phrase "global warming," but they may not regard it as a hoax (I do) . . . and they occasionally feel guilty about using so much energy.
Some of Sarah Palin's "problems" deal with attitudes, especially among married women. It amazed me (it shouldn't have) that some married women I talked to were obviously jealous of Sarah Palin's success. ("Let see, she's the mother of five and is running for V-P and looks wonderful, and I'm a mother of five and my hair looks like a fright-wig.") We've all read about women with high-powered, high-paying jobs who spend most of their time feeling guilty about something-or-other.
It is okay to be ideological, but we need to recognize (at least according to the brilliant Atwater) that attitudes trump ideology.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Obama, Sotomayor: Slobbering Love Affair
Sonia Sotomayor graduated "summa cum laude" (highest honors) with a degree in political science from Princeton University. Apparently, poli sci at Princeton, as at many big-time universities, is an easy major, one that doesn't demand a great command of the English language.
On Sunday and Monday, I'll be writing more about Sonia Sotomayor's intellectual limitations, which are many. The other day I was taking notes during the first two days of the Sotomayor hearings. Her comments were legalistic and jargon-ridden to the point of being incomprehensible. When Senator Coburn asked her if we Americans "have a right to self-defense in our own homes," she gave an incoherent answer.
Even worse, she regularly misused common English words. In answering (sort of) Coburn's question she use the word "eminent" (standing out above others) several times when she meant "imminent." (about-to-happen). If she's ever ruled on the concept of "eminent domain," goodness knows what the decision sounded like.
Also, when she was talking about an individual's "store of knowledge" (itself a redundant phrase) she called it "story of knowledge." It was an absurd blunder. I doubt she won any spellingbees at Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx.
(Marnie Delano of New York State pointed out to me that Sotomayor badly mispronounced the Latin phrase "sui generis," meaning originally "of its own kind" and now generally meaning individual or unique. Sotomayor pronounced it "soo jen-riss," whereas the correct form is "soo-eye gen-er-iss.")
The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have been slobbering (and shedding tears) over Ms. Sotomayor and her supposed "brilliance." Sotomayor once described herself as the "poster girl for Affirmative Action." In her case, truer words were never spoken.
She's not a "wise Latina." She's an unwise one. She wouldn't even be a good candidate for the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico.
Oh yes, she's a certain to get confirmed. Her confirmation is imminent, although there's nothing eminent about her.America now is the country where every girl, even stupid ones, can grow up to be a Supreme Court Justice.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Palin, Obama: Very Different People
If I were brainstorming with Sarah, I would focus on the slogan "I'm one of you," and I would use the theme of simple things: liberty, opportunity, tolerance, personal responsibility, private enterrprise, national security. I'd point out that Obama's pretty words don't lead toward any of those fundamentals. They lead to a government-run nation with no room for personal liberty. "We the people" become "They, the government."
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Scenario: McCain Defeat Obama
If I'd been king of the McCain Campaign, I would have suggested the same with the team of Obama-Wright. One problem: John McCain NEVER mentioned the name "Jeremiah Wright," and apparently forbade Sarah from doing so. I believe McCain only mentioned Bill Ayers' name once, perhaps twice.
The campaign gave Sarah a script to use on Obama-Ayers, and it was a pretty lame script ("paling around with terrorists"). They failed to portray Obama as a socialist who was proposing job-destroying (key term) tax policies. And on and on . . .
The result was that Obama, throughout the campaign, had very high "positives." At one point (with the lady in Wisconsin) McCain told us we "have nothing to fear from an Obama presidency." He should have added, "Heck, I may vote for him myself."
I'm not suggesting that McCain should have run a Darth Vader campaign, only that he should have established Barack Obama as a radical who would do great harm to individual Americans. As I've said before, I kept wondering "Exactly why is John McCain running for President? Does he really think it's important that the American people elect him rather than the other guy?"
As Pamela Geller put it recently in WND, Sarah Palin's "simplicity" is her strength rather than her weakness. For example, 18% of the people eligible for Medicare have "no health insurance." Make them sign up, and we significantly reduce the number of uninsured. Many of those people don't sign up because they don't want to pay the 90 bucks a month premium. Okay, find out what needs to been done to get them to pay it -- and then do what's necessary.
Those approaches may have some bad sides, but it's a lot better than what we're seeing now in Congress. If we PAID private insurance -- basic coverage -- for ALL the uninsured, it would cost less than the proposals now in front of Congress.
Sarah Palin will never be able to cite statistics on health care (from a TelePrompter) that come trippingly off the tongue of Hussein, but his statistics are all self-serving and ultimately bogus. When it comes to smart, the TelePrompter is smarter than the guy reciting from it.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Sarah Palin Confronts Barack Obama
The 'Cap and Tax' Dead End
By Sarah Palin
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Washington Post
There is no shortage of threats to our economy. America's unemployment rate recently hit its highest mark in more than 25 years and is expected to continue climbing. Worries are widespread that even when the economy finally rebounds, the recovery won't bring jobs. Our nation's debt is unsustainable, and the federal government's reach into the private sector is unprecedented.
Unfortunately, many in the national media would rather focus on the personality-driven political gossip of the day than on the gravity of these challenges. So, at risk of disappointing the chattering class, let me make clear what is foremost on my mind and where my focus will be:
I am deeply concerned about President Obama's cap-and-trade energy plan, and I believe it is an enormous threat to our economy. It would undermine our recovery over the short term and would inflict permanent damage.
American prosperity has always been driven by the steady supply of abundant, affordable energy. Particularly in Alaska, we understand the inherent link between energy and prosperity, energy and opportunity, and energy and security. Consequently, many of us in this huge, energy-rich state recognize that the president's cap-and-trade energy tax would adversely affect every aspect of the U.S. economy.
There is no denying that as the world becomes more industrialized, we need to reform our energy policy and become less dependent on foreign energy sources. But the answer doesn't lie in making energy scarcer and more expensive! Those who understand the issue know we can meet our energy needs and environmental challenges without destroying America's economy.
Job losses are so certain under this new cap-and-tax plan that it includes a provision accommodating newly unemployed workers from the resulting dried-up energy sector, to the tune of $4.2 billion over eight years. So much for creating jobs.
In addition to immediately increasing unemployment in the energy sector, even more American jobs will be threatened by the rising cost of doing business under the cap-and-tax plan. For example, the cost of farming will certainly increase, driving down farm incomes while driving up grocery prices. The costs of manufacturing, warehousing and transportation will also increase.
The ironic beauty in this plan? Soon, even the most ardent liberal will understand supply-side economics.
The Americans hit hardest will be those already struggling to make ends meet. As the president eloquently puts it, their electricity bills will "necessarily skyrocket." So much for not raising taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year.
Even Warren Buffett, an ardent Obama supporter, admitted that under the cap-and-tax scheme, "poor people are going to pay a lot more for electricity."
We must move in a new direction. We are ripe for economic growth and energy independence if we responsibly tap the resources that God created right underfoot on American soil. Just as important, we have more desire and ability to protect the environment than any foreign nation from which we purchase energy today.
In Alaska, we are progressing on the largest private-sector energy project in history. Our 3,000-mile natural gas pipeline will transport hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of our clean natural gas to hungry markets across America. We can safely drill for U.S. oil offshore and in a tiny, 2,000-acre corner of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if ever given the go-ahead by Washington bureaucrats.
Of course, Alaska is not the sole source of American energy. Many states have abundant coal, whose technology is continuously making it into a cleaner energy source. Westerners literally sit on mountains of oil and gas, and every state can consider the possibility of nuclear energy.
We have an important choice to make. Do we want to control our energy supply and its environmental impact? Or, do we want to outsource it to China, Russia and Saudi Arabia? Make no mistake: President Obama's plan will result in the latter.
For so many reasons, we can't afford to kill responsible domestic energy production or clobber every American consumer with higher prices.
Can America produce more of its own energy through strategic investments that protect the environment, revive our economy and secure our nation?
Yes, we can. Just not with Barack Obama's energy cap-and-tax plan.
The writer, a Republican, is governor of Alaska.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Clinton, Biden, Gibbs Resigning Soon?
Hawaii political analyst Jill Rethman and I both wrote (see below for yesterday's column) that Hillary's tenure as Sec. of State will be a short one. On Biden's coming resignation for "health reasons," he is a human gaffe machine and, as such, major liability to the Obama crowd. In his comments yesterday on supposed health care "savings," the V-P appeared ill and lifeless.
Robert Gibbs? He may limp along for a few more months. Warren Buffet blasted Geithner this morning on ABC, and that is very bad news for the hapless Treasury Secretary -- of course, Buffet was an important early supporter of Obama.
The only thing more "troubled" than the TARP program is Geithner himself, a man clearly out of his league. As unemployment continues to skyrocket, Obama and Axelrod will need to look for a scapegoat, and odds are that Geithner will be "their man."
If both cap-and-trade and healthcare reform fail this summer, the designated scapegoat in that case could be Rahm Emanuel. He could either lose his job, or much of his power.
The dropping of Biden as V-P nominee was a real possiblity during the general election campaign. What saved Biden's role was the collapse of the economy, which occurred around Sept. 15 and eradicated McCain-Palin's lead in the polls. If Obama had then replaced Biden with Hillary, she would have spent the next four years in "an undisclosed location."
I also believe Bernanke is in trouble in the Fed. Jim Demint and others are calling for an "audit" of the Fed, which would be about as pretty as nude pictures of Barbara Mikulsi.
I'm sure Hillary is delivering some ultimatums, now that she must recognize Obama's goal is to shut her up and marginalize both her and Bill Clinton. Of course, the MSM responds to all these emerging developments by drooling out of both sides of its mouth.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Hillary Clinton Ready to Resign?
Because Obama has reduced the woman to invisibility and irrelevance. He's accomplished much of the same with Bill Clinton, who hates being in the background.
Also, Obama is pursuing policies, especially with Iran and North Korea, that are downright dangerous, which Mrs. Clinton knows. It's no secret that, during the rebelliion in the streets of Tehran, the Secretary of State wanted the President to take a much harder line than he did.
Finally, Richard Holbrooke and George Mitchell (neither of whom is as great he thinks) are fulfilling what should be primary obligations of a real Sec. of State. Holbrooke is in charge of the explosive situations in Pakistan and Afghanistan, while Mitchell essentially has responsibility for the Middle East. In addition, Obama sees himself as the chief foreign policy negotiator, which leaves Clinton usually looking for something of significance to do.
Mrs. Clinton has become mainly an administrator at State, her least-favorite role aside from office maintenance.
The irony is that John McCain would have named Clionton Sec. of State and given her real responsibilities. (I don't know what HRC's relationship is with U. N. Ambassdoar Susan Rice, an Obama loyalist who bashed Hillary during the campaign, but I would bet it's frigid at best.)
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Why America Needs Sarah Palin
I believe -- and know Sarah believes -- that our country's "problems" -- in immigration, in healthcare, in education, and in national security -- are solvable. Many of them were at least partially "solved" a generation ago, not by over-reliance on government but by reliance on the American values Sarah represents. Our current problems have come about mainly because of a decline -- a degradation of -- American culture.
The supposed solutions socialist governments in Europe have pursued have led to very high unemployment, slow growth, and a truly crippling burden of debt on coming generations. They have no way on earth of paying for their versions of Social Security or health care. I urge people to read about this in Niall Ferguson's Collosus: The American Empire. The only country in Europe that will be able to meet its stated obligations to their Baby Boomers is Great Britain -- and that's only because of the foresight of Margaret Thatcher, who refused to promise ten times as much as she could deliver.
Sarah Palin is an authentic heroine, someone who values family, state, and country rather than engaging in the usual political narcissism and self-dealing. Sadly, that's a problem in an era that thinks a pathetic, tragi-comic figure like Michael Jackson is somehow a hero.
In the words of Professor Guelzo of Gattysburg College: "Heroes have become invisible. Their virtues have become unexplainable in the language we now use to explain human action . . . . Great deeds somehow keep on being done, but we have lost a capacity to see them as great. Biographies grow to ever-greater and greater length, while the subjects of them shrink into the shadows of the pedestrian, the ordinary, and the relentlessly disclosed 'secret.' . . . The hero is the story, not just of a good deed, but of a great deed -- a great deed which climbs the unclimable, endures the unendurable, holds fast to the lost."
Professor Allen C. Guelzo, meet Sarah Heath Palin. Conservative activist Karen Allen and I had a discussion a while back about various things, including "constitutional amendments" on various issues. I told her I opposed them -- and believed Sarah Palin did also. We don't need a "better" Constitution. We need better people who make us a better country.
Most important, we desperately need Role Models ("Sarah, we need you!") who will remind people what great individuals do and how fulfilling basic goodness can be. On Friday, Sarah proposed her youngest son, Trig, as a role model, someone who needed her but whom she needed even more. Those comments would not -- YET -- be intelligible to most Americans.
She may (or may not) have made a political sacrifice by her recent actions, but then, she -- yes a consummate politician -- doesn't think ultimately in political terms.
What is best for my family? What is best for my state? What is best for my country? When our American people begin focusing on those questions -- the same ones that drive American soldiers -- the nation will be one that recognizes and reveres American heroes and heroines.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Sarah Palin: Going National
Bulletin: Please read Pamela Geller's superb article "Palin in 2012" in WorldNetDaily: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=103019
Sarah is a national figure with national aspirations, and it's in her best interest not to continue to serve as Governor. It's that simple folks.
Some "conservative pundits," generally as idiotic as their liberal counterparts, will express bogus horror that Sarah has "quit her day-job." Frankly, Sarah doesn't want to run for President on the state of Alaska's dime. Obama quit as his own day-job, as U.S. Senator -- or at least stopped performing it -- after serving less than a year. Nobody raised a peep.
Here's how Greg Hanson, a keen observer, described Sarah's actions:
"I just read the transcript of her speech, and nothing in there tells me that she's the least bit interested in quitting. She is taking her fight to a completely new level. She is now free to come and go as she pleases, and will undoubtedly be taking advantage of some of the hundreds of invitations she's received. Look for Sarah Palin at a venue near you in the coming weeks and months. I find it interesting that her resignation comes about the same time as SarahPAC's numbers are reported. My hunch is that they will be huge, and will be a very big story both as to the amount raised, and the number of donors, all with very little effort on her part. This is the opening salvo of the 2012 campaign. Start packing 0bama, you're finished."
Additional Comments by Steve in an e-mail to Sarah Supporter Bill LeBlanc:
I said on this blog yesterday that she basically was being "held prisoner" in Alaska, with bogus "ethics violations" being filed against her every time she left the state. Some people in Alaska have an insecurity complex and don't understand that what happens in America has a tremendous impact on Alaska. Ronald Reagan didn't get elected until 1980, but he started having great influence nationally with a speech he gave in 1964. You and I were lucky enough to attend the Oct. event in Beaver, PA, and we saw first-hand the kind of power and honesty in this remarkable woman. Sarah is already the most important political female in American history.
Independence Day: Remembering Ronald Reagan
I also knew that his optimism and love of America (and its people, who are not always lovable) would be a great tonic for our native land. When Reagan appeared at the Olympics, people started chanting "USA, USA!" He had become synonymous with America. He was a staunch adherent to what historians call "American exceptionalism," the belief (one that is true) which recognizes that America is "not just another nation."
The liberals at the time claimed Reagan would be a "war-monger," which was the reverse of the truth. However, as a child of WW II, he did understand the truth of Senator Pat Moynihan's assertion: "You must remember that we are a warrior nation." In my heart, I also know that RR knew the truth of Gen. Lee's statement after the battle of Fredericksburg: "It is a good thing war is so terrible, else we should love it too much."
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Mark Sanford: A Human Disaster
I knew a professor at the University of Georgia, Calvin Brown, a Rhodes scholar, who had a student say to him: "I just want to be myself." Brown told him, "Really? You should aim higher than that."
The man (Sanford) has four children for goodness sake. And he's no more than a child himself.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/obama_rasmussen_poll/2009/06/30/230686.html?s=al&promo_code=8287-1
Among other things, Sarah Palin needs to run on the theme "I'm NOT Obama."