Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween


So Much for Tort Reform

For those people like me who thought that we would never see tort reform, a great big pat on the back for being right. However, the House bill does with the subject of tort reform, and if passed will kill it once and for all.

From The Moderate Voice:

I first saw this item noted by Jennifer Rubin and she quickly sent me scrambling to dig back into the bill. You see, the bill includes one section with the hopeful sounding title, “Medical Liability Alternatives.” (This is section 2531, found on pages 1431 through 1433 of the bill. For the record, if you follow that link you’ll have access to the entire bill, courtesy of the NY Times, in an easily browsed format for those of you who do not wish to download the entire thing in a pdf file.)

From the title and the initial description, you might be tempted to think that the bill was going to address tort reform, at least on some level, by offering an incentive to states who set up alternate methods of handling malpractice litigation.
Here are the offending passages:

(4) CONTENTS OF ALTERNATIVE MEDICAL LIABILITY LAW. – The contents of an alternative liability law are in accordance with this paragraph if -

(A) the litigation alternatives contained in the law consist of certificate of merit, early offer, or both; and

(B) the law does not limit attorneys’ fees or impose caps on damages.
Here's the scam:

The individual states are free to pass their own tort reform but if the tort reform limits attorney fees or imposes caps on damages the states will forfeit federal dollars. So, the federal government will take money from the taxpayers and give it to the states so long as they behave themselves and leave the trial lawyers alone to earn massive settlements (and fees) which in turn, drives up the cost of health care and health insurance. What do you want to bet that in turn, there will be far more medical malpractice suits when the plaintiff is covered by private insurance than there will be for those covered by the public option? Viola, the Dems reward their buddies (and donors) the trial lawyers while the cost of private insurance continues to rise and the cost of the public option is kept down.

Who is playing politics with our health care now?

More at:

Memeorandum
RedState
Hot Air
Gateway Pundit
Left Coast Rebel

NJ Man Busted With Drugs: "I work for Corzine." Corzine campaign: "No he doesn't."

Look just because a guy is driving around in a rental car paid for the Corzine campaign and there are tickets to a Obama rally doesn't mean he's a Corzine staffer. Moe Lane has the story at RedState:

The Corzine campaign wants it made CLEAR that Jason Shih is in no way, shape, or form involved with the releection campaign; that Mr. Shih is certainly not an assistant campaign director or staffer for the campaign; that they have no idea who Mr. Shih would even is, let alone why he would claim such a status; or why he would claim that the car that he was driving at the time of his drug bust was rented by the campaign, or why there were tickets to an Obama rally and other campaign paraphernalia mixed in with the drug paraphernalia.

Understand? They want it made CLEAR.:
Of course, there is this from JammieWearingFool:

Update: Via Steve W from Ford in the comments, look what we've got here.
New Jersey Democratic State Cmte Expenditure Detail

Shih, Jason, Paramus, NJ $420 Field Consulting Services 11/03/06

Granted, this is three years old, but I have to assume it's the same Jason Shih, as searches turn up only one Jason Shih in Paramus. So at some point it appears he did some work for the New Jersey Democrats.

Well, who are ya gonna believe-a drug dealer or the people paying him?

The SEIU Wants Your Tax Dollars

More to the point, the SEIU NEEDS your tax dollars. It certainly would explain this from the Corner at the National Review:

As far as I can tell, THE Andrew Stern was the top outside visitor to the White House with approximately 20 visits, or about three visits per month, including four relatively small meetings with the president and a dozen with other White House staffers. Stern has openly bragged about the SEIU's $61 million investment in Barack Obama. It certainly bought him a lot of access.


Bought is the operative word. Here are a series of charts from Doug Ross that shows why Stern and the SEIU are pushing so hard for ObamaCare-they need the American taxpayer to foot the bill for their members' health care:









For the story behind the charts and an explanation of what this means to taxpayers, read Doug's story here.


Breaking News From NY23

Stacy McCain has the headline of the week: NY23: SCOZZAFAVA QUITS!

I haven't seen this on Memeorandum yet but no one has kept a closer eye on this campaign than McCain:

Just confirmed that Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava has quit the race. Speaking to supporters, Scozzafava broke down in tears.

UPDATE: Scozzafava, the hand-picked choice of the New York state GOP in the key 23rd District special election, reportedly will throw her support to Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman.

Scozzafava's withdrawal came shortly after a new Siena College poll was released this morning, showing her in third place, with Hoffman neck-and-neck with Democrat Bill Owens.

UPDATE II: Steven Foley of 73Wire Campaign Trail is also on the story. Foley's crew is over at Starbucks, while I'm poaching the lobby computer at a hotel here in Lake Placid. I am the Poacher King.

My source called this morning to confirm the story while Foley was on the phone with his source. Ali Akbar has text of Dede Scozzafava's farewell.

UPDATE III: Linked at Hot Air where Ed Morrissey comments:
Scozzafava has seen her negatives explode, while her two opponents have only become more accepted as they became more well known. She has no chance of winning this race, and her withdrawal leaves Hoffman with the Republican vote whether she endorses him or not.


As poll after poll showed Hoffman either tied or ahead of Democratic rival Owens and Scozzafava slinking around in third place more and more Republican "names" jumped on the Hoffman bandwagon. As I said earlier, everyone loves a winner and everyone wants to be on the winning side. Scozzafava meet bus.

Whether it is Pete Sessions announcing that the party would welcome Hoffman with open arms or party chairman Michael Steele saying that a win for Hoffman is a win for the GOP, the fact is, the party flipped on Scozzafava. Note: what Steele should have said is that a win for Hoffman is a win for Conservatives and a lesson for the GOP. In any case, the NRCC decided that it didn't make sense to throw anymore money at the Scozzafava and now we are down to a two man race.

Undeniably, Conservatives have won. We have shown the Republican party that candidates such as Doug Hoffman in New York and Marco Rubio here in Florida are not only viable but the smart choice. When Republicans go to the polls we don't want to vote based on the Democratic candidate and the other Democratic candidate. If the voters see no difference between the candidates, the two party system loses, and the people will turn to a third party.

Republicans can only declare victory in NY23 if they walk away from the race much smarter than they walked in to it.

The Other McCain is updating the story constantly.

UPDATE:

Scozzafava’s withdrawal is on Memeorandum now. Others reporting on this are:

Newsbusters.Org
Sister Toldja
Left Coast Rebel
Jammiewearingfool
Legal Insurrection
Michelle Malkin

UPDATE II:

American Power is running the story:

Hoffman will pick up most of Scozzava's 20 percent in the Siena poll. This race is pretty much a done deal.

See Robert Stacy McCain for the details (he's been working this story like a mofo), "NY23: SCOZZAFAVA QUITS! UPDATE: New poll shows Hoffman in dead heat with Democrat Owens."Plus, from the Watertown Daily Times, "SCOZZAFAVA SUSPENDS 23RD CAMPAIGN," and Ed Morrissey, "Breaking: Scozzafava Quits After Siena Poll; Update: Hoffman Campaign Asking for Endorsement?" And, from Dana Loesch, "BREAKING: Dede Dumps Herself." Ha! Added: The best headline so far, "Radical Leftist GOP Candidate Dede Scozzafava Quits."

UPDATE III:

Just heard on Fox News, Steele is throwing the full support of the GOP and NRCC behind Doug Hoffman. Everyone loves a winner.

From Erik Erickson at RedState on Jeb Hensarling (R) Texas, who formerly endorsed Scozzafava, throwing his support to Hoffman:

I am endorsing Doug Hoffman’s candidacy in New York’s 23rd Congressional District. Doug will fight Speaker Pelosi’s efforts to takeover our health care system and work with us to reign-in the record spending, debts and deficits that President Obama and the Democrat Congress are piling onto the shoulders of our children and grandchildren.

I respect DeDe Scozzafava’s decision to leave the race and am gratified by it. When I agreed to support her, I didn’t think a third party candidate could win and I was wrong. Clearly, Hoffman’s conservative principles are far more in line with my own, and I welcome this opportunity to endorse him. I am excited about this opportunity and will welcome him to Congress.

I am glad to hear Hensarling say that Hoffman's conservative principles are are far closer to his own. That being the case, why didn't he back Hoffman to begin with? Are Marco Rubio's conservative principles also far closer to Hensarling's? If so, who is Hensarling backing in Florida? I have a problem with Republicans who only discover their principles after the fact.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Everybody Loves a Winner

As polls show Doug Hoffman either tied or ahead of Democrat Bill Owens and Republican Dede Scozzafava tumbling in to third place, it looks like the House Republican leadership is laying the foundation for a working relationship:

The House Republican leadership is prepared to welcome Doug
Hoffman
into its ranks, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman
Pete Sessions (R-Texas) said Thursday, a sign that the GOP establishment is
recalibrating its approach toward the contentious New York special election and
the Conservative Party nominee whose candidacy has divided the party.

“He would be very welcome, with open arms,” Sessions told POLITICO in
an interview off the House floor.

As Stacy McCain says, Worry warts are worried, and the hand-wringers are ring their hands. The party leadership went all in for Scozzafava and now they are getting their backsides handed to them. The party is all about winning so it doesn't surprise me that they would "welcome" Hoffman. Everybody loves a winner.

With a Little Help From My Friends

My buddy Doug over at The Daley Gator is looking out for me, although, if I were a cynic I might wonder if his motives are entirely pure.

Grayson Cries, Pelosi Lies, The Public Pays

Michelle Malkin reports on Rep. Alan Grayson's latest attention grabbing ploy:

I’ve been blogging the emotion card-playing from desperate Obamacare advocates all week.

Now, Florida’s favorite Democrat potty mouth has jumped on stage (hat tip – William Amos):

Democratic Congressman Alan Grayson is making headlines again Thursday
morning for his comments on health care reform. But this time it’s for a very
different reason.

The Central Florida lawmaker broke down Wednesday as he spoke to
Congress about why he’s fighting for reform.

Grayson read letter after letter from people across the country who
wrote to him about their problems with the current health care system.

“I lost my mother and I’m only 23 years old. I have no other family. I
spend Christmas alone. I would do anything to ensure this never happens again to
anyone,” Grayson read.

I watched the video at the link and was indeed a tearjerker. Yet, for all these sad stories of people too poor to afford health care there was no mention of Medicaid although surely anyone with no income or minimal income would qualify.

Although I doubt it was Grayson's intent, my takeaway from his emo stunt is that we already have a government run health care program, Medicaid, that doesn't work. Why is Congress screwing up the existing health care of the eighty-five percent of the population that is happy with their current care instead of fixing their own existing program? If we have people who are eligible for coverage under Medicaid who are receiving it, let's fix it. If we have people who are not eligible for Medicaid but cannot find affordable health care because of a pre-existing condition, fix that. Instead of a program that is targeted, Congress has given us a (nearly) two thousand page unfocused takeover of one sixth of our economy.

Let's face it, the government doesn't have a stellar record when it comes to fixing things. In fact, their fixes have an uncanny way of making things worse. Prof. William Jacobson only needed a few minutes to find a flaw in the Pelosi's plan:

The bill defines which businesses are subject to the health care tax based
upon the dollar amount of employee payroll. There even is a sliding scale right
in the bill (section 501, at page 276) which tops out at 8% for businesses with
$750,000 of annual payroll. Annual payroll is defined as the "aggregate wages"
paid by the employer.

This provision creates incentives for businesses to keep down payroll. One
way would be not to hire anyone whose compensation would fall under the
definition of payroll under the bill.

We won't be seeing full employment anytime soon, if ever. Does anybody think it is smart to have a provision in the health care bill that would make our current employment situation worse? How many other provisions hidden in those 1,990 pages will be enacted in haste and regretted for decades to come?

Further, Pelosi is not being honest about the cost. That 800 billion dollar price tag doesn't include the quarter trillion dollar 'doctor fix' that the Speaker is hoping will go unnoticed. We'll notice when our income taxes sky rocket to pay for this.

Rep. Grayson should dry his crocodile tears and start looking targeted solutions that will fix the current problems without making things worse.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Its a Learning Process

It wasn't that long ago that I didn't give politics a second thought. Or even a first thought.

I registered to vote for the first time sitting in Mrs. Wallace's science class during my senior year in high school in 1976. Back then Pulaski County, Kentucky was a Republican county. My parents were Republicans. I registered as a Democrat and voted for Carter for president. I have absolutely no idea why. To my credit, I realized during Carter's first year that the man was an idiot and I changed my registration. I never looked back. Honestly, I never looked period.

Afterall, I am adamantly pro-life. I believe in the free market. I believe with every fiber of my being that each of us are children of God and endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights. That makes me a Republican, right?

I always assumed that the Republican party had a platform, a set of principals, and by supporting the party, I could depend on them to support our shared principals. I assumed, that was politics.

It started vague. This very subtle feeling that something wasn't right. Then one day while talking to my daughter on the phone I said, "I'm not sure I'm a republican anymore." I don't know why I said it. There was a long silence and then my daughter said, "But Mom, that's who you are."

That may be who I am, but I'm no longer sure who my party is. I've never been a "win at all cost" person but if I understand the point Newt Gingrich was trying to make when he said that Republican support for Hoffman in NY23 is equal to a "purge" I think my party has decided that winning trumps principal.

How often do wish you had the perfect words? I found them at American Power. Donald posted Stay With Me by Rod Stewart. Donald, being a gentleman, didn't post the lyrics that apply, and I missed them in the video, but good old Rod says, "Sit down, shut up..." because poor Rita is there to 'service' her master. That video sums up the attitude that the leadership in the Republican party has developed with its loyalists.

I'm slowly learning how politics works, though I don't pretend to get the behind the scenes doings. Honestly, I don't care. But one thing I've realized, I'm not Rita. I am not that party's whore. But I am proud. I am proud to be a Conservative and I am proud of my fellow Conservatives who are standing up and saying, "No more." So, Misters Gingrich, Graham, McConnell, and members of the NRCC, I'd strongly suggest you do alot less taking for granted and a whole lot more wooing because I, we, are ready to kick you out of the door.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

More Bad News For Charlie

The Fix is asking its readers to vote on the most overrated Governor in the country. It is my dubious honor to announce that at this point my governor, Gov. Charlie Crist is in the lead.

Charlie took quite a spanking in the poll's comments although he did receive one favorable review from a reader who noted that Crist well liked by Democrats. Judging from their article asking if Crist is America's Worst Governor, I think it is safe to assume that Crist is not a favorite of Forbes:

Charlie Crist is an extraordinarily gifted politician, known for his unpretentious and warm demeanor. He might also be America's worst governor. Given that there is a great deal of competition for this dubious honor, that's saying rather a lot.

Among liberals and progressives, there is a puzzling admiration for Crist,long considered by Democratic and Republican veterans of Florida's political scene to be something of an opportunist if not a lightweight. In May, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne wrote a column suggesting that conservative discontent with Crist reflected an overemphasis on doctrinal purity. In Dionne's view, Crist raised the ire of Florida conservatives when he embraced President Obama's stimulus plan, and indeed when he physically embraced the president
himself. While it is certainly true that Republican primary voters tend to be
highly ideological, perhaps excessively so, it's worth recounting Crist's
reasons for backing the stimulus plan.

When Marc Caputo and Steve Bousquet of the Miami Herald asked Crist about the
virtues of the plan, he said, "I think it's fantastic. Are you kidding me? We
don't have to raise taxes." Moreover, Crist continued, "we might be able to cut
property taxes some more. We have more money for education, so we can increase
per-student spending. We can spend more money on our roads and infrastructure.
We can provide health care for our people. I mean, it's remarkable." Indeed, something is remarkable, namely Crist's rigid adherence to an ideology more pernicious than orthodox progressivism or conservatism or nudism or anarchoprimitivism. I'm referring, of course, to free-lunchism. (my emphasis)

Yes, Charlie, the darling of liberals and progressives, does embrace "free-lunchism," though the free lunch didn't prevent Floridians from losing their jobs and their home values (if not their homes themselves) while contrary to Crist's pledge, their taxes increased. The article continues:

Incredibly, Crist demanded that Florida use one-time funds to pay for 12% of the state budget. When Republicans in the state legislature took the difficult step of passing a budget that included unpopular spending cuts, Crist turned around and vetoed hundreds of millions in cuts, despite the continuing
deterioration of state revenues. It could be that Crist believes that the
federal government will simply pass a stimulus plan every year, one that will
grow ever larger without consequence to Florida taxpayers. This, of course,
can't possibly be true. As a result, Crist has committed Florida to a fiscal
nightmare, one that will lead to draconian tax hikes and spending cuts long
after he makes a break for the U.S. Senate or finds some other comfortable
sinecure thanks to the good graces of his many wealthy friends.
(Emphasis
mine)

Crist is one of those Republicans that we Conservatives are trying to "purge" according to Newt Gingrich. In Newt & Company's "big tent" there is room for free-lunchers, tax and spenders, cap and traders and abortionists. But while that tent swells with what we used to call "Democrats", Newt tells Conservatives to be quiet and go sit in the corner. Is it any wonder that Conservatives find that they are more comfortable outside the tent?


Other bloggers weighing in on the recent RINO onslaught:

The Daley Gator
Cold Fury
The Other McCain
Michelle Malkin
Paco Enterprises
The Camp of Saints
Another Black Conservative
And So it Goes In Shreveport

Liberal Vs Conservative: Education

A couple of weeks ago I received an email in response to one of my posts. The writer explained that he generally disagreed with pretty much all my positions but enjoyed my blog anyway. He wanted to know if I would be interested in doing a post in which we would chose a subject and then he would approach it from a Liberal point of view while I would present a Conservative view. Before answering, I took a look at his blog Re/Creating Tampa, and found myself enjoying several of his posts though it was clear that he, Dave, and I are polar opposites. The following is our joint post. I would like to thank Dave for inviting me to join him in this endeavor and I would encourage everyone to check out Dave's blog (I particularly enjoyed his recent posts on Francis Bacon and net neutrality).


A View of Education from the Left by Re/Creating Tampa’s Dave

Is there an education problem in the United States? Despite the hand-wringing and the warnings of imminent calamity from both sides of the political spectrum the problem is not as dire as we’ve been led to believe.

Given that education reform is a key platform for both Democrats and Republican, how can I write that? Easy, I checked to see what parents thought about their children’s education. Nearly 80% of parents are happy with the education their children are getting. And that satisfaction rate has been hovering around 77% over the last decade.

The Bush brothers each made education a signature issue. Jeb revamped Florida’s education system, and George W. pushed through the No Child Left Behind act. These efforts came after more than a decade of conservative criticism of our public school system and advocacy for voucher systems and parent “choice.” The Bushes’ moderate conservative reforms have received mixed grades. In Florida the FCAT has created a tool to measure schools, moved Florida out of America’s educational basement, but had no success stemming the rising tide of high school dropouts.

The current administration has some education reforms of its own, and they’re similarly moderate. Since his days as a Senator the President has pushed for schools to emphasize science, technology, engineering, and math. President Obama’s also an advocate of extending the school year to be more competitive with global educational systems. Arne Duncan has been tasked with closing, or substantively revamping, the 5,000 worst-performing schools in the U.S.

There’s no doubt that there’s room for improvement. Measured against the world, some metrics suggest the United States is slipping into mediocrity. But, keep in mind that reading scores among 9-year-olds and young teens improved dramatically from 1970 to 2000, especially among female students. Math scores also improved from 1973 to 2004 for the same age group. And, with the initiatives of this president we should also see increases of people returning to college and finishing their bachelor’s degree. The university system of the United States remains the best in the world, despite showing signs of strain (13 of the top 20 universities in the world are in the US).

The moderate liberal reforms of this administration are the correct first steps. The stimulus has saved the jobs of tens of thousands of teachers. Obama’s address to elementary school children sets the right tone of personal responsibility and high aspirations.

Liberals further to the left of the political spectrum, from John Dewey to Ralph Nader have urged for an education system that places civic responsibility at the center of its education philosophy. The most important thing we can do for our children is to continue to push for the reforms championed by liberals like Dewey and Nader. We need to put civics classes on par with English and math classes. We need to stop teaching our children how to be efficient at rote tasks, and de-emphasize punctuality, obedience, and memorization. Instead we need to focus on critical thinking skills. We need to teach our kids how to ask good questions, how to analyze sources and facts, and how to make cogent arguments. We need to stop educating them for a role in middle management and start educating them for entrepreneurship. Most importantly we need to educate our children on the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
***

A View of Education from the Right by Carol

What is the state of education in the United States? Well, it depends on who you ask.

Parents in the United States are overwhelmingly happy with the education that their children receive. In light of the facts, it is hard to imagine why. From the Center for Public Education:

American kids are good readers in comparison to many of their peers across
the globe. Only three countries significantly outscored the United States at the
elementary and high school levels (PIRLS 2001). The reading performance of U.S.
fourth graders was particularly strong. They scored significantly above the
international average (PIRLS 2001), while our fifteen year-olds scored slightly
above the average (PISA 2000).

U.S. math performance is mediocre. American fourth graders performed
above the international average but were significantly outdone by young math
students in eleven of the twenty-five nations participating in the assessment
(TIMSS 2003). U.S. eighth graders performed about the same (TIMSS 2003). By high school, our students’ performance falls below the international average. Only
eleven of the thirty-nine participating nations did significantly worse than the
United States (PISA 2003).

U.S. science performance is a study of contrasts. On one hand, both
American fourth and eighth graders scored above the international average (TIMSS
2003). Only three countries did significantly better than the United States with
their elementary students and American fourth graders outperformed their
counterparts in sixteen other countries (TIMSS 2003). But as in math, our high
school students were significantly outscored in science by their peers in
eighteen of the thirty-eight participating countries with a performance that was
below the international average (PISA 2003).

The gap between affluent and poor students in the United States is near
the international average. When comparing students’ performance by parents’
educational level, parents’ occupation, and number of books in the home, Canada,
Finland, and Iceland had smaller achievement gaps than the United States while
Germany had a larger gap (Hampden-Thompson and Johnston 2006). The results are similar when looking at students by their immigration status and first language
spoken.

The American adult population (ages sixteen to sixty-five) performed
near the bottom on a six-nation assessment of literacy and numeracy. The United
States performance exceeded only Italy’s. Outscoring us were Norway, Bermuda,
Canada, and Switzerland (ALL 2003).


These results are despite that we far outspend other countries per pupil and contrary to our current Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan’s claims, our students spend more time in the classroom then their counterparts in other countries who consistently outscore them. Worse, only 69.2% of American students graduate from high school and of those who do graduate and go to college, more than 60 percent of students enrolling at two-year colleges, and 20 percent to 30 percent at four-year colleges, must take remedial courses, for no credit, before they can take entry level freshman courses. There is no excuse for our children to leave high school unprepared to take the next step.

How did we get to this point and how do we turn things around? We got to this point because we have lowered our standards and stopped challenging our students. Conservative Albert Jay Nock wrote this of education:

“After the three Rs, or rather for a time in company with them, his staples were
Latin, Greek and mathematics. He took up the elements of these two languages
very early, and continued at them, with arithmetic and algebra, nearly all
the way through primary, and all the way through secondary schools. Whatever
else he did, if anything, was inconsiderable except as related to these
major subjects; usually some reading in classical history, geography and
mythology. When he reached the undergraduate college at the age of sixteen
or so, all his language difficulties with Greek and Latin were forever
behind him; he could read anything in either tongue, and write in either,
and he was thus prepared to deal with both literatures purely as literature,
to bestow on them a purely literary interest. He had also in hand
arithmetic, and algebra as far as quadratics. Then in four years in college
he covered practically the whole range of Greek and Latin literature;
mathematics as far as the differential calculus, and including the
mathematics of elementary physics and astronomy; a brief course, covering
about six weeks, in formal logic; and one as brief in the bare history of
the formation and growth of the English language.”

Nock, who passed away in 1945, called it The Great Tradition and it was. School was not about ’self esteem’ and it wasn’t about fun. The purpose of school was to gain knowledge and become educated. It involved memorization, tons of reading and writing until the students fingers felt like they would fall off. Students were constantly tested and in order to pass the tests they had to know facts. Things were a whole lot tougher then but our students thrived. My how things have changed.

Memorization is now a dirty word. Forget about learning Latin; vocabulary, word meanings, sentence structure, and spelling aren’t important-the “thought process” is. Multiplication tables are boring so children are taught to estimate. Testing is bad. Grades are bad. Rather than challenging students, school is made easy.

Often, teachers are unfairly blamed for the dumbing down of our schools. Much of the dumbing down rests squarely with the parents. Sorry, but I spent too many ‘conference nights’ waiting for my fifteen minutes with one of my children’s teachers and listening to the parent ahead of me berate the teacher because their little Johnny deserved better grades because blah, blah, blah. Self esteem was born and education died. Yes, children are happier when they succeed but only if the success is deserved. They do know the difference. Teachers are responsible for teaching; parents need to be responsible for their children learning. We can and should do more to hold both students and teachers accountable but we cannot force parents to be involved in their children’s education on a day to day basis. Cheating our students of a challenging education is not the answer, does nothing for the child’s self esteem and leaves our children unprepared to meet the future. Instead, school districts should encourage in-school mentoring programs utilizing retirees to provide children with individual attention when they do not receive it at home.

Children drop out of school because they believe that school has nothing more to give them. In many cases, this may be true. Not all students will go to college and there should be no stigma attached to students who despite their best efforts aren’t capable or don’t chose to attend college. High schools should offer students viable alternatives that will allow them to attain a measure of success at whatever they do. If a student wants to go to a trade they will need to know how to estimate a job (math) and take that estimate and turn it in to a proposal (writing). Wouldn’t a student be more likely to stay in school if they felt that they were learning something that would be relevant to their future? If children receive a solid education in the primary grades they should know by high school whether college is in the cards and be adequately prepared to go in a different direction if they desire. Wouldn’t it be better to allow students to enter an apprenticeship program after their sophomore year than to have them drop out with little to no hope for the future?

Thirty years of lower academic standards and less accountability has led to a fall in test scores, higher dropout rates and students who leave school unprepared for college, employment and life. It is time to go back to basics. If we demand more from our students they will deliver.

Monday, October 26, 2009

What the Blooody Hell!

Yesterday I read where Alex Renton thinks we should gaive up having babies and today Robin Pagnamenta wants me to give up prime rib. No wonder the Brits walk around looking miserable all the time. What's next? Would they like me to give up sex and chocolate, too? (Okay the sex thing was a stretch, but a really long dry spell does not mean I've given up)... Where was I?

Look, I'm rather fond of this planet too. You know why? Because I enjoy it. In the word of the great blog father, SOD OFF, SWAMPY!

Changing the Name of the Public Option

Out of the mouths of boobs:



WhatEVER!

Bless You Doug Ross, Wherever You Are

I've seen this before, but today I needed a laugh and viola, Doug posted it. Oh, and blessing to the other Doug, too. Always.

My How Times Have Changed

My how the times have changed. It wasn't that long ago that President Barak Obama came to Ft. Myers, Florida and Governor Charlie Crist threw his loving arms around him. The governor blew off a Cabinet meeting and a lunch with Jeb Bush so he could attend that rally with the new president and tell the citizens of Florida that he was reaching out in a spirit of bi-partisonship and embracing the stimulus money just as he embraced Obama in a great big man hug.

What did Crist get in return for those stimulus dollars? Florida is among the nation's leaders in unemployment rates and foreclosure rates. On that all important day, Floridians got screwed while Crist got the thrill.
President Obama will be back in Ft. Myers this week but Charlie won't be there to give him a hug. The governor says he has a cabinet meeting to attend. That is called irony. Or bullshit, depending on your point of view.
What has changed? I'm guessing this:

Cross posted at Not One Red Cent
More on the Rubio/Crist matchup at Riehl View World with a tip of the hat (fedora?) to Paco.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Alex Renton: Dumb A$$ of the Week

Calling for population control to save the planet, Alex Renton earns his Dumb A$$ of the Week stripes by writing this:

But how do you reduce population in countries where women's rights are
already achieved and birth-control methods are freely available? Could children
perhaps become part of an adult's personal carbon allowance? Could you offer
rewards: have one child only and you may fly to Florida once a year?

Gee, if a woman doesn't have any children can she go to Florida twice a year? As my Momma would say, what a crock!

The Eugenics Society Inducts a New Member

From Don Surber:

In case anyone is wondering why conservatives think the Republican Party leaders are out of touch, Michael Steele and company need only listen to their congressional candidate in the special congressional race in uppermost New York state, Republican Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava accepts the Margaret Sanger Award at Family Planning Advocates of New York States’ 31st Annual Conference on March 10, 2008, at the Empire State Plaza in Albany, NY.

The video.

Margaret Sanger is considered the "Mother" of Planned Parenthood and is a woman who envisioned abortion as the major weapon in the fight to rid the world of the "wrong" kind of people.

Why is the RNC backing a candidate like Scozzafava? She has absolutely nothing in common with the Republican Party or Republican principals. Further, in NY23 there is a candidate running who does embrace the principals that the Republican Party is supposed to stand for.

Doug Hoffman, the Conservative candidate in NY23, represents what so many of us thought our party stood for. Stacy McCain:

Hoffman took a job pumping gas at age 14 to help support his family -- you
understand that, beneath his nerdy exterior, there is a man of real character.
And his willingness to step up to the plate and take on the GOP Establishment in
this special election is another example of that.

Conservatives nowadays often complain that we don't have "another Reagan,"
but maybe that's not what we need. Maybe what we really need is a grassroots
movement so powerful, so energized, that it doesn't have to wait around for the
next Ronald Reagan to show up. (See "Memo
to the Grassroots."
)

Maybe what we need is a grassroots so fired up it can elect a real
conservative, even if he isn't a telegenic media superstar or a dynamic public
speaker.

How did the party become so out of touch? It is time to throw the bums out and start over.

Congressional Democrats: A Threat to Democracy

"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress."-- Mark Twain, 1894

The following is a YouTube of Rep. Jack Murtha (D) PA at his sleazy best in just another example of why the biggest threat to our democracy is the Democrats in Congress.



h/t Larwyn’s Linx

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Reaching Around

What could go wrong?



The Daley Gator knows.

Legal Insurrection has The Most Monumental Power Grab You Never Heard About.

The Other McCain is the number one source for all things Hoffman.

Paco has Obama all figured out.

Doug Ross has this and this, but I really like this.

Troglopundit writes of wussie vegetarian spiders. No offense, but Florida fire ants wouldn't put up with a sissy spider on their leaf.

Pundette notices that Obama may have a temperament problem.

Babalu sees a hint of hope.

How anti=America is Code Pink? Donald Douglas has the answer.

Don Macleans' American Pie was used as "torture" at Gitmo. I'm betting it was the Madonna version. Yuck! Pat at And So it Goes in Shreveport says Conway Twitty music would do it for her. No disagreement here.

Left Coast Rebel posts on Michelle Bachman here and here.

Another Black Conservative has notes on Dick Chaney's speech and gets super bonus points for saying, "...Technorati has become as useless to me as Olympia Snow is to conservative causes."

A special thank you to Carol at No Sheeples Here for turning me on to the 9/12 Mom's Network. I am now a proud member and would encourage everyone to check them out.

How Big is the Gap Between the RNC and Reality?

Don Surber knows:
Liberals and conservatives can agree on one thing: The gap between the Republican National Committee and reality make the Pacific Ocean look like a pond.



Don gave the RNC his "Evil" rating. I'd go with evil and really, really, stupid.

I Guess it All Depends on Who Says It

Have you heard about the government's plans to kill millions of us with the H1N1 vaccine? No? Well, maybe if Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh were making the claim it would be news, but the claim comes from Louis Farrakhan leader of the Nation of Islam, so our friends at the MSM are having another one of their "move along, nothing to see here" moments.

As reported by UPI, this is what Farrakhan said:

Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan told an
audience in Memphis he believes the H1N1 flu vaccine was developed to kill
people, a witness said.

Farrakhan, 76, spoke for nearly three hours Sunday at a gathering to
observe the religious group's Holy Day of Atonement, which also marked the 14th
anniversary of the Million Man March in Washington, the (Memphis) Commercial
Appeal reported, citing a source who attended the speech.

"The Earth can't take 6.5 billion people. We just can't feed that many.
So what are you going to do? Kill as many as you can. We have to develop a
science that kills them and makes it look as though they died from some
disease," Farrakhan said, adding that many wise people won't take the
vaccine.

"The black community has become toxic and must cleanse and restore
peace from within," Farrakhan said.

Actually, Farrakhan's rant isn't all that original, John Holdren, Obama's Science Czar has advocated secretly introducing chemicals into the food and water supply to control the population. Not hard to see where Farrakhan might get the idea that this particular administration is capable of killing its own citizens, but his "no biggie" attitude towards it is troubling.

In any case, had this claim been made by someone on the right side of the spectrum, the kids at the HoPo and the Daily Kool Aid would be wetting their pants. Guess it all depends on who says it.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Margaret Sanger Would Be Proud

Via Memeorandum:

Abortion Kills More Black Americans Than the Seven Leading Causes of Death Combined, Says CDC Data:




Abortion kills more black Americans than the seven leading causes of death
combined, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention for 2005, the latest year for which the abortion
numbers are available. Abortion killed at least 203,991 blacks in
the 36 states and two cities (New York City and the District of Columbia) that
reported abortions by race in 2005, according to the CDC.
During that same year, according to the CDC, a total
of 198,385 blacks nationwide died from heart disease, cancer, strokes,
accidents, diabetes, homicide, and chronic lower respiratory diseases
combined. These were the seven
leading causes of death
for black Americans that year


Wouldn't Margaret Sanger be proud! As I wrote in an earlier post:



Margaret Sanger is the “mother” of abortion and Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood, Now and all of the ‘kill them early, kill them late, kill them often’ coalition who idolize Sanger, keep her intense support (and their?) for eugenics on the down low. Eugenics was supported by prominent people, including Margaret Sanger, Marie Stopes, H. G. Wells, Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, Emile Zola, George Bernard Shaw, John Maynard Keynes, John Harvey Kellogg, Winston Churchill, Linus Pauling and not surprisingly, Adolf Hitler. Oh, and based on, "…particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of”, Ruth Bader Ginsberg.



How many innocent babies will die before the public finally opens its eyes to how evil this practice is? Shameful.

What Do We Stand For? Updated

“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” - Original source unknown

There it was on Memeorandum, Former governor calls for party reform. Deep sigh. We all know where this is going, don’t we? Another lecture from a ‘senior republican’ on how we need to be more ‘inclusive’, less ‘strident’ and though they don’t come out and say it, less ‘republican.’ Turns out, the former governor is Jeb Bush, my former governor and a man I voted for, three times.

Two quotes stand out. First:

“It’s important to have beliefs and it’s important to talk about them, but it’s more important to act upon them,” Bush said.

“And by their deeds you shall know them.” – Matthew 7:20

I take it that my former governor would agree with me that simply calling oneself a Republican doesn’t cut it- it is more important to act upon it by voting according to Republican principals. Whew! For awhile there has seemed to be an endless stream of ‘senior republicans’ who have been dismissive of conservatives for being dismissive of ‘republicans’ whose deeds and acts have been anything but Republican.

The second quote:

"In politics, you never win when you say 'us and them.' We need a more welcoming message."
I agree with Bush. I would like to see the Republican Party welcome everyone who believes in smaller government, less taxes, less government intrusion. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case. In fact, those who have raised their voices the loudest in support of Republican values-Rush, Glenn, Sean, et al, have been rebuked by ‘senior republicans.’ Often ‘senior republicans’ remind me of used car salesmen but instead of “No credit? No problem!”, it is “Pro Abortion? In favor of Cap and Trade? No problem!”

As I stated last night, I am confused and no longer sure how the party, my party, defines itself. What does the Republican Party stand for? I hear ‘senior republicans’ talk about fiscal conservatism, smaller government and greater personal freedom but their deeds (Congressional voting records) contradict their words. If the party stands for nothing, we will fall for anything.

Update:

Smitty has the perfect advise for the GOP:

You can play to your base, or progressivism, but not both. If the latter, then the base sees no difference between the GOP and the Democrat candidate, and the GOP deserves to rot.

Read Smitty's swing state update here.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

I Still Don't Get It

I guess I'm a little thick headed but I still don't get. Say there are two candidates running for office who are virtually interchangeable. On principal I can not support either one of them. Explain to me again why I should vote for the Republican candidate? Oh, I am supposed to vote against the Democrat. Okay but if the Republican candidate supports abortion, tax and spend, Cap and Trade, and so on, isn't it a moral failing for me to give my vote to someone whose views are repugnant to me?

Now, lets change it up a bit and add a third party candidate to the mix. If that third party candidate supports my positions across the board, why shouldn't I vote for the candidate who best upholds my principals?

If I understand the argument, elections aren't about principal or electing officials who represent their constituents. Elections are about getting a party elected and helping that party consolidate power. We Republicans did that not all that long ago and we know how well that turned out. Was it as disastrous as what we have today? No. But forgive me if I believe that there should be more to elections than voting for the marginally less evil of two evils.

If a third party candidate joins a race, as Doug Hoffman has in NY23, best represents conservative principals, it is wrong to put party above principal. In my own state I support a Republican candidate for the US Senate but he isn't RINO enough to get the support of the NRCC. What message is the party sending to conservatives in this case? What is the party saying to conservative voters in NY23 by their support of Dede Scozzafava who is a Democrat in every way, shape and form except the (R) after her name?

Today the following have called for Scozzafave to withdraw from the race: NRO, RedState, Red Country, Washinton Examiner, Washington Times, Ace of Spades, Big Government, and Michelle Malkin. In light of Scozzafava filing a false police report because she didn't want to answer a reporter's questions, I also believe that she should withdraw. More importantly, this would be a very good time for the party to show that they are not completely tone deaf and withdraw their support.

No Compromise on the First Amendment

Both Smitty at The Other McCain and Pamela at Atlas Shrugs have posted the following video of Pat Condell discussing the Islamic threat to our free speech. Muslims throughout Europe are using blasphemy laws and religious insult laws to prevent citizens from expressing opinions critical of Islam. Now they are using the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights as weapon against free speech throughout the world.

We already have laws that protect citizens from libel, slander and credible threats of violence. No free person should ever allow their speech to subjected to the whims of the state.



h/t Memorandum

Monday, October 19, 2009

Is ObamaCare UnConstitutional?

I am still cautiously optimistic that somehow ObamaCare will die on the vine. However, if the Dems force it through, job one will be to get it overturned. The Daley Gator is reporting this from News Max:

President Obama’s healthcare proposals face serious legal problems and scholars expect at least some provisions will be ruled unconstitutional.

The legal vulnerability of Obamacare – assuming some version of healthcare reform is passed – stems from the unprecedented powers it grants the federal government.

Constitutional challenges could arise on several fronts: the government’s power to regulate interstate commerce; privacy concerns related to doctor-patient interactions that have their origins in Roe v. Wade; constitutional restrictions on the federal government’s authority to levy taxes; and the plan’s numerous clauses promoting racial preferences.

Andrew P. Napolitano, the former New Jersey Superior Court judge and senior judicial analyst at the Fox News Channel, calls Obamacare “unconstitutional at its core."

ObamaCare is a massive power grab by the Administration and on its face appears unconstitutional. Our Founding Fathers never intended for power to rest in the federal government. While we all agree that health care needs to be reformed, this Administration has shown no interest in any measures that fall short of a government takeover.

Meghan McCain's Boobs Speak Out!

And for the rest of the story...

Sunday, October 18, 2009

I've Got the Cold Weather Blues

I am on the couch with one blanket wrapped around me and two more over my lap and legs. Tomorrow my co-workers will make fun of me for wearing my parka to work. They'll call me Nanook and laugh and laugh. In case you haven't guessed, I hate cold weather and I define cold as anything below 80 degrees. Right now it is 61 degrees, frigid. This is Florida and the average high temp for October is 84 degrees. In fact, the average low is 67 degrees, which was the high today. Where's the global warming? Apparently, it has been on hiatus for the last ten years.

I assume that is why we no longer call it "global warming," instead, we now have "climate change." "Climate change" is kind of like "heads I win, tails you lose." or as William Teach puts it:
In other words, you skeptics need to shut the h*ll up, and understand that
when temps are flat or go down, it is nature, and when they go up, it’s because
you drove your family to the beach in your SUV, you b*stard!

You can't win the climate change argument because the True Believers simply adapt the facts to match their scenario. It could snow in Miami in July and Al Gore would break out in a hearty "I told you so!"

Honestly, there have always been crackpots so I lean towards allowing the True Believers to enjoy their insanity unimpeded, except that they are very close to making their craziness my problem. Cap and Trade effects me so sitting on the sidelines isn't an option.

We should be back to normal temps by Thursday. I guess that is why they say that if you don't like the weather, just wait. It will change.

The Un-Serious Administration-Updated

The ongoing White House war on Fox News is summed up perfectly by Pat at And So it Goes in Shreveport:


The continuing White House battle against Fox News is just silly and resembles nothing so much as childhood kindergarten politics.

Yes, so much silliness, so little time. Certainly not enough time to get American workers back to work when there are meanies at Fox News to be dealt with! The Taliban? Al-Qaeda? Right after they've dispatched with Glen Beck and Sean Hannity. Sheesh!


I have the same question as Pat, what is the point? The White House certainly isn't negatively impacting Fox's ratings. Just the opposite. So why is the White House wasting its time?


Campaigns engage in foolishness but once the campaign is over it is time for leadership. This administration excelled at the former and sucks at the latter. I can understand the desire to cling to the gamesmanship but surely there is at least one grownup somewhere in the administration that can explain that the object to any game is to score the most points. Right now, they are scoring points for the other team.

UPDATED:

From Instapundit:

“IF YOU STRIKE ME DOWN I SHALL–” Oh, hell, you know the rest. New York Times declares Fox News winner in fight with Obama. Best bit: “People who work in political communications have pointed out that it is a principle of power dynamics to ‘punch up’ – that is, to take on bigger foes, not smaller ones. A blog on the White House Web site that uses a ‘truth-o-meter’ against a particular cable news network would not seem to qualify. As it is, Reality Check sounds a bit like the blog of some unemployed guy living in his parents’ basement, not an official communiqué from Pennsylvania Avenue.”

More at:

Memeorandum
NewsBusters
Hot Air

What Will We Leave Our Children?

In No Sheeples Here: America Is Me Carol writes:

We should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls and me must not allow this administration or any other to dismantle the Constitution. It is our turn to defeat the enemy within. Will ours be the first generation to not leave our country better off than we found it for our children?

For me, the answer is easy; I will not leave my grandchildren a country that is worse off then I one have enjoyed. This administration has given my grandchildren a country that is 1.4 TRILLION dollars in debt. Yet, instead cutting back, like millions of American families have been forced to do, our government wants to throw more money in to the wind.

For my grandchildren I pledge to oppose the socialization of our health care. I will oppose Cap and Trade. I will oppose any more "bailouts" and "stimulous." I will oppose the expansion of government (further) beyond it Constitutional mandate. I will oppose any politician who talks about "compromise." This is my grandchildren's future-there is no compromise.

Carol has posted the video American is Me. Watch the video and then ask yourself, Will ours be the first generation to not leave our country better off than we found it for our children?
More at:




Saturday, October 17, 2009

Liberal Racists

A couple of nights ago I saw the exchange between Juan Williams and Warren Ballantine on the Bill O’Reilly Show. They were discussing Rush Limbaugh and needless to say, the discussion became heated. Ballantine made a comment to Williams, which with all the shouting I didn’t catch, but I could tell by the look on Williams face that Ballantine had crossed a line. Last night Williams filled for O’Reilly and I found out that in the previous exchange Ballantine had called Williams a “porch monkey.”

Juan Williams is in that category of people that I like, respect and almost always disagree with. In fact, I usually strongly disagree with Williams. Williams made no secret of his anger at being called a “porch monkey” and I was angry for him. I also got the feeling that this was the first time that Williams had been targeted because of his beliefs by one of his own.

In all kindness I say welcome to the real world, Juan. As a ‘person of color’ you are only allowed to have one set of beliefs and you are not allowed to stray from that belief system and think and speak for yourself. It doesn’t matter that you usually ‘toe the line,’ any variance from the approved script will be met with swift derision. Remember when Colin Powell and Condi Rice were “house negros?” What was your reaction then? Did you stand up for Sarah Palin when her ‘womaness’ was attacked because she didn’t follow the feminist dictates?

The lesson is that it is the Left, not the Right, who are the racists and sexists and all other manner of “ists.” Woe to anyone who refuses, even in a single instance, who wanders outside the parameter of a “proper negro” or “proper woman.” Juan Williams found out what happens to a black man who thinks for himself. I hope that he keeps that “porch monkey” slur in the back of his mind and that he will be more sensitive when others are attacked unfairly for stepping off the liberal plantation.

Video of William’s response is from VotingFemale Speaks:

Friday, October 16, 2009

Leaving the "Republican Establishment" Behind

I knew early on today what I would writing today based on an email that I had received from the Marco Rubio campaign. It turned out that several posts on Memeorandum feed right in to where I am headed. First from Erick Erickson, writing at Red State:

The conservative movement has made NY-23, like the Florida Senate race, a Hill
to Die On. Here, in New York of all places, the conservative movement will tell
the GOP that it will either win with conservatives or lose without them.
Conservatives across the spectrum of conservatism from Fred Thompson to Mike
Huckabee and on and on have told the GOP it is time to turn back to limited
government and will fight the GOP in NY-23 for supporting a woman who embraces
large government and destructive social policies.

As a Floridian, and a Rubio supporter, this is a “Hill to Die On.” According to the email I received, Rubio just won his twelfth straw poll:

As the Palm Beach Post reports, “In what has become a familiar ritual at
gatherings of Republican activists across Florida, former Florida House Speaker
Marco Rubio trounced Gov. Charlie Crist in a straw poll of GOP Senate
candidates…”

This time, it was the Palm Beach County Republican
Party that handed Marco a 90-17 victory, improving his straw poll record to
12-0.

By anyone standards 12-0 is pretty impressive. Rubio has beaten Crist by wide margins from one end of the state to the other, yet he is doing it without the NRCC support. Grass root Conservatives have made their choice clear and in return the GOP leadership has responded with an unapologetic “pound sand.” The reason they give for their support of Crist-they say he is more likely to beat the Democratic senatorial candidate Kendrick Meek. Apparently they are unfamiliar with the August Rassmussen Poll that shows that in a general election Rubio would beat Meek by 13 points.

Bill Kristol writes, Shouldn't the Republican Establishment Help a Republican Win a Congressional Seat? Well, yes, that would be nice, but if the races in New York and Florida are any indication the “Republican Establishment” bears no resemblance to the “Conservative Base.”

Whether it is the establishment’s backing Scozzafava in New York and Crist in Florida or Graham sucking up to John Kerry on Cap and Trade, it has become a bridge too far. Why should I vote for a republican simply because they call themselves a republican? Will Cap and Trade have less financial impact on me and my family because a RINO voted for it? No. I will no less screwed under ObamaCare or Cap and Trade or the next ten stimulus bills because a RINO crossed the aisle to bend me, my family and my country over a chair. If my vote won’t make any difference, I will keep it in my pocket with my money.

The “Republican Establishment” has a HUGE Tea Party problem and it will only get worse by taking us for granted. We are no longer willing to throw our votes away. Going forward, we will vote our principals not a party. If that means that the Republican Party becomes even more marginalized, so be it. Sooner or later, maybe, the “establishment” will get the message. If not, we will leave them standing at the station.


More comment at:

The Other McCain
American Power
Riehl World View
Michelle Malkin

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Cap and Trade: Increases Taxes/Decreases Jobs

Via Memeorandum:

The latest word from the CBO on Cap and Trade is not going to make the White House happy:

A House-passed bill that targets climate change through a cap-and-trade
system
of pollution credits would slow the nation's economic growth slightly
over the next few decades and would create "significant" job losses from fossil
fuel industries as the country shifts to renewable energy, the head of the
Congressional Budget Office told a Senate energy panel Wednesday.

CBO Director Douglas W. Elmendorf emphasized that his estimates
contained significant uncertainties and "do not include any benefits from
averting climate change," but his message nevertheless contrasted sharply with
those of President Obama and congressional Democratic leaders, who have
suggested that a cap on carbon emissions would help revive the U.S. economy.


Considering that we don’t even know if there are “any benefits from averting climate change” I think that reasonable people should agree that now is not the time to send our economy even further in the tank over an unknown.

What we do know, in addition to Cap and Trade being a job killer, is that it will foist a huge tax on every American and that every American family will be forced to pay more for every good and service they purchase.

Progressives don’t care about the effects of their ideology on American families. Their “let them eat cake” attitude belies their claims of caring for the little guy. Cap and Trade will hurt the citizens who can least afford it. Congress should shelve it and concentrate on getting our economy back on track.

More at:

Left Coast Rebel
Red State

Meghan McCain's Boobs. Yawn.

Via Memeorandum:

You know it is a slow news day when a skanked out picture of potty mouthed Meghan McCain has everyone A-Twitter.” Honestly, I don’t get the Meghan McCain phenomenon. Dumb blondes are a dime a dozen after inflation, and fat dumb blondes are as common as flies in a stable. McCain reminds me of a low rent Mae West without West’s looks, brains or talent. She’s not even interesting enough to be a train wreck. Yet, there she is.

Stacy McCain has a sampling of the vapid Ms. McCain’s “tweets.” It is a shame that with all of Mommy and Daddy’s money that they never bought the poor girl a vocabulary. Suffice to say, it isn’t necessary to ‘buy a vowel’ to know that she isn’t taking her Tourette’s meds.

Bob Belvedere at The Camp of The Saints has Ms. McCain pegged:

To my friend Stacy McCain, I say: It ain't a woman's size that
matters. Its how they wear it--physically and mentally.

Your cousin wears it well physically, but when she opens her mouth, any
attractiveness is wiped away by the insipidness of her thoughts [I call this
Wellesley Girl Syndrome]. The two sides go hand-in-hand in determining if a gal
is appealing over the long haul.

Meghan McCain suffers the worst of all sins-she is boring. Can anyone think of anything notable that Ms. McCain has ever said? No, I imagine not. But then, notable sayings are rarely asterisk filled.

More at:

American Power
Little Miss Atilla
Moonbattery

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Helping a Tortured Soul

Skipping around Memeorandum this morning I’ve read both Ace’s post on Charles Johnson’s attack on Rush Limbaugh and Mark Steyn’s Okay, Prove You Didn’t Say It and it occurred to me that we may be missing the big picture on Mr. Johnson.

I think it is becoming obvious that Mr. Johnson’s attacks are becoming more frequent, more angry and more unhinged. I am not a psychiatrist but has it occurred to anyone the Mr. Johnson may be mentally ill? Perhaps he really heard Rush say those things in his head. I am not sure we should be criticizing someone who is suffering from paranoia and is delusional.

I have heard of mental afflictions that can cause the sufferer to imagine that there are bogeymen (racists) everywhere just as Mr. Johnson does. In addition to irrational ranting, the afflicted also often develops an unusual affection for small farm animals. Does anyone know if Mr. Johnson has suddenly taken up an interest in goats? (I did hear a rumor about an unfortunate incident with a lizard but there is no word from Mr. Johnson on whether he was really performing oral sex on a reptile or if there is some other plausible explanation)

My point is, if, as it seems, Mr. Johnson has lost his mind, we in the blogging community should show him every kindness that he would show us were circumstances reversed. We should begin by gather and reporting any incidences of bizarre or deviant behavior, no matter how far fetched. There’s no such thing as ‘too much information’ when dealing with this sort of thing. Don’t worry about fact checking. If any of the info turns out to be incorrect, Mr. Johnson can simply disprove the negative later.

And remember that immortal line from James Kirkwood, Jr.’s novel P.S. Your Cat is Dead, “Never f*ck with the insane.”

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Obama's Latest Award: Thinnest Skinned President Ever

From Cynthia Yockey:

Obama has finally found a war he is determined to win and a foe for whom he has
preconditions before he will negotiate — Fox News

You know how Gov. Sarah Palin keeps pointing out that Obama is allergic to the words “victory” and “win” when it comes to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Or any conflict where democracy and capitalism are threatened? And you remember how Obama has declared he will negotiate with terrorist and totalitarian regimes without pre-conditions? But he would not talk to anyone on Fox News when he spoke to every other Sunday news show to push Obamacare? Not even with
pre-conditions?

Cynthia couldn’t be more spot on. Obama certainly gives the impression that he is more concerned about Fox News than he is all the actual threats to our country combined. That our president is so thin skinned that he has to avoid anyone who doesn’t slather him with praise makes him appear small and unserious.

A more confident man would welcome the opportunity to present his policies in an open forum. Not only will Obama not deal with anyone who doesn’t experience leg tingles at the mention of his name, he mistakenly believes that belittling Fox News for the entertainment of his base is somehow “presidential.” Actually, it is silly.

Those who allowed Obama to rise to the level of President of the United States without ever experiencing any serious challenge or criticism did him no favor. Fox News, unlike their ’competitors’ are simply doing their job. Obama would do well to learn how to deal with it.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Just a Beautiful Day

Today was a perfect Florida day. Temps were in the low 90s and the breeze wafted off the bay all day. I love Columbus Day. It is a fed holiday so the credit union where I work is closed but everyone else is working and the schools are in session. The result was almost total peace and quiet. There were no cars on my street and no boats on the water. The only sounds were the birds and squirrels. Beautiful.

They say there is a cold front coming and that we could drop in to the seventies. Sigh. I guess even here the seasons have to change. The water hyacinth in my little pond must know that the end of the warmth is coming because several of them burst in to full bloom today.

Back to work tomorrow.