Category Archives: Politics

Politics

One Down, One To Go

The 2009 election season has ended, but not without some lessons learned, especially as relates to those elusive and much sought after ‘independent’ voters.

We know at least two facts about them. Since they were instrumental in electing Barack Obama in 2008, they are not racists. And since they elected Republican governors in Virginia and New Jersey in 2009, they’re not socialists either.

We also learned something about the state of the Republican Party.

What played out in New York’s 23rd congressional district was also instructive of the power of conservatism in the electorate. An unknown conservative just two months ago, came within a few percentage points of winning. And when you factor in the fact that the incumbent RINO had the support of the RNC, up until she quit and supported the Democrat(ic) candidate, he didn’t do too bad. His financial and political support came not from the RNC, but from other conservative Republicans outside the district and state.

The Republican Party has something to learn, or re-learn, as well. What happened in upstate New York is the beginning of a real conservative movement, whether within or outside of the Republican Party. It is the Republican Party that has strayed from its conservative roots. And it is the Republican Party that needs to return to them instead of being Democrat-Lite. The 2009 political season over. The next one is the big one.

related links: The Love Affair is Over | Conservatism Prevails

and cartoon: Hard Pill To Swallow

Politics

Democrats Out To Get Lieberman

The contrast between how the Left handles opinion, Joe Lieberman’s opinion, and corruption is amazing. The short version is this, disagreeing with Obama’s policies is far worse than being ethically or legally corrupt.

Take Charles Rangel (D-NY) for example. Never mind for now the other Democrats that are under ethics probes. But remember too what Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) said after gaining the majority in November 2006. She said she was going to “drain the swamp” of corruption on Capitol Hill. A leaked document tells a different story. From the Washington Post . . .

Two and a half years into Pelosi’s reign, more than 25 Democrats have been targeted for ethics reviews by the two ethics bodies, while just seven Republicans appeared to be under scrutiny, according to the document.

Corruption? Eh, no biggie. But disagree, you’ll be piled on by the Left like those at Democrats.com. There, Bob Fertik says Lieberman must have his committee chair position yanked. But not for Rangel.

Fertik neglected to say what committee he wanted Lieberman yanked from. Lieberman Chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Fertik is all bent out of shape over Lieberman’s decision to not support the  Public Option on health insurance reform. The funny thing is though, yanking his chairmanship position is not going to change his vote. But seeing the far Left get bent out of shape for Lieberman representing his constituents is amusing.

But the fun doesn’t stop there. Now Fertik is calling for a ‘donor strike‘ for all Democrats that don’t support the socialist option. Good luck with that.

Pensacola, Politics

Pensacola Needs A Rudder

Stepping into a hot topic in Pensacola, that being consideration as to the form of leadership the city government should have, The Lunch Counter comes down on the side of a strong mayoral system. It is what Pensacola needs. There is a long record of the effectiveness of running a city, this city, by committee. It is too cumbersome and politically lazy. The number of years the Mayor vs Commission form of government has been discussed is testament to the need for this kind of change.

This ship, Pensacola, needs a rudder.

A mayor with vision and drive can make things happen, if we will only let him, or her. And if it turns out that we elected the wrong person, we have the ability to elect the right person. To borrow a phrase from the recent past, YES WE CAN.

It worked fine for New York City under Rudy Giuliani and in Philadelphia under Frank Rizzo. There’s no reason it can’t bring Pensacola to where it belongs too.

related link: PNJ, Choosing a charter

2010 Election, Politics

Conservatism Prevails

Is it a sign of the times? One could only hope and, time will tell. Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman gets a boost as Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava bows out of New York’s 23rd Congressional District race.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich had said Scozzafava is exactly the kind of candidate the party needs to rebuild itself for a new Republican Revolution. However, Hoffman and his backers attacked Scozzafava as too liberal to represent the GOP. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and former New York Gov. George Pataki endorsed Hoffman.

Right. And General Colin Powell said that John McCain was the kind of leader America needed, before he voted for his opponent. Newt couldn’t be more wrong in his thinking. I don’t know where this comes from. He certainly didn’t believe this in ’94. You don’t build the Republican party by adopting planks of the Democrat platform. You do it like Reagan did by convincing Republicans, Democrats, Independents, everyone, that there’s a better way for America which happens to be 180 degrees from our present course. Stick to the principles that made us. Contrary to what the current administration is saying, conservatives believe that ‘the status quo’ means protecting and defending the Constitution, not supplanting it in an attempt to literally ‘remake America.’

Obama’s version of ‘status quo’ is a focus group tested phrase he assigns to problems either real or imagined (mostly imagined), used as a pejorative to condemn all that has made America the greatest country in the world, freedom, liberty, and a free enterprise market-driven economic system. His plans and policies are direct attacks on all three.

Hopefully, what is happening in upstate New York is the beginning of a real conservative movement, whether within or outside of the Republican Party. It is the Republican Party that has strayed from its conservative roots. It is the Republican Party that needs to return to them instead of being Democrat-Lite.

No true conservative condones the Chicago-style politics, the back room deals and quid pro quo with special interest groups and industries like is rampant in the Obama administration. Which, curious enough,  is exactly what Obama is accusing his detractors and predecessor of doing.

link: Scozzafava’s stunning departure

Florida, Politics

Gov. Crist And Chicago Politics

Whether Crist is following Obama’s lead in the Chicago way of dealing with political opponents, or Crist’s true colors are beginning to show, it doesn’t really matter. What it shows is Crist is getting desperate, and dirty.

Red State details some facts of the smear campaign that Crist and his comrades in the Florida Republican machine are waging against Marco Rubio. And, of course, it includes Hitler.

link: Charlie Crist Gets Desperate. Senator George LeMieux Appears To Be Involved In the Rubio Attack Too.

Economy, Politics, War On Terror

Show Me The . . . Leadership!

Forget about the money. China has it. One thing they don’t have that we do is President Obama. And right now we’re in need of some leadership.

Right now, two of the most important challenges the President is saying he faces are the economy, to which he has inextricably tied health insurance reform, and, the safety of our troops fighting overseas, particularly in Afghanistan.

It is difficult to believe him when he says those things are tops on his list when he continues to do fundraisers around the country, takes time for golf and recreation, and uses his bully pulpit to berate private industry and groups like the Chamber of Commerce who happen to disagree with his policies, instead of showing the leadership required to make the tough choices that he needs to make.

That making a decision whether to support his generals in the war zone, one of which is heading the NATO forces there, or support his political far-left base represents a tough choice is at the same time frightening to me and revealing of him. But apparently it is because we’re quickly approaching 60 days since Gen. McChrystal asked for more troops to carry out his mission in Afghanistan and still no decision. It’s not like this war was sprung up on him or anything. It has been ongoing for all of the 9 months he has been Commander in Chief. But, since he has only met with the general twice in that length of time, it is also hard to believe that even he thinks it is important, let alone tops on the list.

For President Obama, economic recovery now means health insurance ‘reform.’ Never mind those trillions and trillions of debt owned by China, and those stimulus packages that failed to stimulate the economy or fix what they were supposed to fix. Let’s just focus on health insurance reform. Obama’s other top concern for the country.

Where is his leadership on that? Why is he not using his bully pulpit to lay out his plan, telling us and Congress what he wants instead of beating up on his detractors? It’s a rhetorical question. It’s because there still isn’t a plan. One day it’s this, the next day it’s that. One day it’s public options, next day it’s consumers choice. It’s the Baucus bill, no it’s the house bill, no, it’s the Kennedy bill. And oh, did I mention that all of those bills have one thing in common. They aim to ultimately take control of what private sector health care remains (17- 20% of the private sector economy) after they absorb the rest of it into Medicare, which is already bankrupt. But never mind those silly details, just pass the bill. There’s no need to see it in writing first.

This isn’t leadership. This is his attempt at community organizing on a national, and global scale. Coming from someone who was touted to be, despite all the evidence to the contrary, so experienced and the right man for the job (after Hillary that is), what we see is not much different than a circus barker. And empty suit. Not a leader at all.

Politics

Barack Obama, America's New Founding Father

From his words and deeds, it is apparent that this is exactly what he thinks of himself. It is no more evident than in his radio interview in 2001 in Chicago where he displays his contempt for what America’s founding fathers had created, and a Constitution that is full of ‘negative rights.’

From Thomas Sowell’s article called Dismantling America . . .

Just one year ago, would you have believed that an unelected government official, not even a Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate but simply one of the many “czars” appointed by the President, could arbitrarily cut the pay of executives in private businesses by 50 percent or 90 percent?

related link: The Real Barack Obama

Politics

Rubio To Visit Area

MARCO RUBIO will be here Tuesday evening at 6 PM at Hidden Creek Country Club in Navarre. The evening is being put on by the Santa Rosa Federated Republican Women’s Club. The cost is $25.00/ticket and they do have a few tickets left. Rubio’s popularity is rising and he is an excellent speaker so it should be a most entertaining and informative evening. If you are interested in going please call Kay Addison at 983-8594. Hope to see you there.rubio natl review

Brought to you as a public service by the VRWC and The Lunch Counter.

Oh, that would be the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy of course.

Location and directions.

2008 Election, Media, Politics

Rush, Others Get Punked

As any comedian or philosopher will tell you, what makes comedy and/or satire funny is there has to be a shred of believability, not to be confused with truth, in it.

So on Friday’s show, Rush commented on an article from Michael Ledeen, a respected writer, that gave an excerpt to what was alleged to be the highly sought after thesis that candidate Obama wrote while at Columbia University. Before his show ended, Rush also held out the possibility that the story may not be true. Doing some due diligence, he said this . . .

A researcher has been scouring the Internet and can’t find any sources for the quote. “The blog that Ledeen cites doesn’t have supporting info,” supposedly. The source post that was from August, says it’s going to be in an upcoming report from Joe Klein, but the researcher can’t find anything that has come out since, and nothing in Klein’s blog. There have been no matches found on the Internet for any of the info or quotes other than the source posting. So I now say that the blog from which this came has no sourcing data other than Joe Klein upcoming report and Joe Klein hasn’t written his upcoming report. So we have to hold out the possibility that this is not accurate.

Ledeen’s source was from a post in the Jumping in Pools blog. That, attributed the ‘quote’ to research by Joe Klien, another respected writer. Problem is, it was all made up. You have to look very carefully at a tag at the end of the post that among others is ‘satire.’

Here’s the made-up quote:

‘[T]he Constitution allows for many things, but what it does not allow is the most revealing. The so-called Founders did not allow for economic freedom. While political freedom is supposedly a cornerstone of the document, the distribution of wealth is not even mentioned.

“‘While many believed that the new Constitution gave them liberty, it instead fitted them with the shackles of hypocrisy.'”

Pretty hot comment, if it were true. Until the real thesis is exposed we’ll never know. Much like the way Dan Rather claimed that his report on Bush’s National Guard service was true even though the paper itself was fabricated.

Why would that quote be believable you ask? Mostly from what we know Obama himself has said, as well as the way he is governing, and from the way his policies affect the country. His penchant for ‘economic and social justice,’ redistribution of wealth (Joe the plumber), and Chicago style politics, attacking anyone or any industry that opposes him and his policy.

This video is relevant to Obama’s driving philosophy.

Lesson here is, like anything else you read or hear from any source, whether from the internet sewer or the pristine printed and broadcast media is this.

Don’t believe anything you read on this web page unless it is consistent with what you already know to be true, or unless you have taken the time to research the matter to prove its accuracy to your satisfaction. This is known as “doing your homework.”

related links:

Media, MRIOTD, Politics

Media Falls For Another Hoax

Last Monday, Oct 19, the National Press Club was punked by a group posing as the National Chamber of Commerce. A group later discovered to be the ‘Yes Men,’ were there to explain why the Chamber changed its position on Obama’s global warming legislation called ‘cap and trade,’ saying that the Chamber now supports it. A man calling himself Hingo Sembra represented himself as a spokesperson for the Chamber of Commerce. And the media just ate it up.

The ‘real’ news organizations Reuters, CNN, the Washington Post, and New York Times fell for it, putting out their ‘news’ in much the same way Sam Donaldson did with Bush’s National Guard hoax.

This, after US Chamber of Commerce Director of Communications Eric Wohlschlegel interrupted the fake press conference and said this . . .

I’m with the US Chamber of Commerce. This is not an official US Chamber of Commerce event, so I don’t know under what pretenses you’re here. I know some of you in the press world, but this is a fraudulent press activity and a stunt.

If anyone has any questions, you want to talk to the real Chamber of Commerce, they can direct — direct your questions to me.

But it gets better. The hoaxer was given legitimacy on CNN (the most respected name in news) by ‘reporter’ Rick Sanchez. Sanchez was giving the fraud kudos for his acting. Giving this fraud yet another platform to push his, and the President’s agenda, meets all the criteria for CNN receiving the Most Ridiculous Item Of The Day award.