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Suspend Your Disbelief
Nov 21, 2008 | 12:22 AM PST
Category:
Political
Why am I not surprised:
Investigators weren't able to determine whether the searches were politically motivated, the report said.
Gov. Ted Strickland suspended the agency director, Helen Jones-Kelley, for a month without pay after reviewing the findings. He rejected a request to fire her.
“Rejected a request” to fire the official responsible for the agency that conducted an irresponsible search upon one of their citizens. I truly hope “Joe the Plumber” files suit against the good Governor Strickland.
You don’t get something for nothing, and obviously the agency director failed to dredge up anything. Helen Jones-Kelley failed in her bid to sully Joe, so she got suspended. If I were living in Ohio I would be wondering how this governor allowed this to happen, and rewarded his appointee with a suspension.
Party Parity - Pity Party
Nov 19, 2008 | 9:25 PM PST
Category:
Political
Kathleen Parker (a Republican-ish columnist) created some waves during the general campaign by advocating for Republican Vice-Presidential Governor Sarah Palin to call it quits:
Only Palin can save McCain, her party and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first.
Not content to infuriate Palin supporters, Kathleen now decides to toss a hand grenade into the party tent:
To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn't soon cometh. […]
Given those facts, the future of the GOP looks dim and dimmer if it stays the present course. Either the Republican Party needs a new base -- or the nation may need a new party.
I’ve been critical of this party for some time. However, common sense dictates a bit of reason be injected before surreptitiously throwing out planks from the platform. Abortion and gay marriage remain important policy and social positions for the Republican party. They do not superimpose with the planks in the Democrat planks.
While I am a bit nuanced in my views on both of those subjects (my stances regarding both put me at odds with supporters of granting full rights to said positions - to say the least) many Republicans do have an all-or-nothing attitude regarding such issues. Fine with me. Equally fine are views that don’t care. I like asparagus, others like broccoli. Great! People have different preferences!
When John McCain became the Republican nominee, his win was greeted in much the same way as the present financial crisis - it did not meet with much enthusiasm from anyone. Well, maybe that excludes Democrats who gleefully met both with high expectations for the election of presidential nominee Barack Obama. In order to counter the enthusiasm Obama generated (not to mention the huge financial disparity from Obama’s reversal - also called “flip-flop” - of accepting a publicly-funded campaign while McCain stuck to his promise for such) McCain had to offer something different from his personal resume.
Governor Sarah Palin was a smart pick. Her handlers on McCain's team thought otherwise, and for weeks we were stuck with mum from her. The only information we obtained was under the cognizance of a media in the tank for Democrat Obama. This is where Ms. Parker screwed the pooch. She bought into the narrative created by both the silence of the lambs in the McCain camp and the shrill voice of the Obama media shilling.
Whether we need a new party is simply not the issue. The question is, will our elected representatives continue to misrepresent our views? If Ms. Parker has lost hers (presumably she had no problem with the party several years past), perhaps it is best for her to search for a different party - or even no party. Honestly, I don’t care. Ms. Parker might chose to vote Wiccan (not implying she is a witch - just making a parallel argument).
That Republicans failed to usher in my foolish fantasy of limited government, lower taxes, reduced spending, - AND ABOVE ALL ZERO NATIONAL DEBT (or at minimum zero yearly deficits) are the reasons Republicans failed. Promises mean something to the Republican base. They apparently mean little to the Republican elected class, and perhaps the pundit class...
One Plus One Equals...
Nov 15, 2008 | 10:35 PM PST
Category:
Political
Why bother with distinctions? We should all be equal. At least, that is what we are being force-fed in today’s media hype.
I am not against same-sex unions that have every “benefit” that marriage has, I am simply against calling it marriage. Is that fair? Sure seems fair to me…
My ultimate rebuttal to the “fairness” argument by gay marriage supporters is this: Will religions who don’t condone gays be forced to perform the ceremony? Will they lose their tax-exempt status because they are “injecting” themselves into politics by refusing to adhere to federal rules requiring the performance of marriage rites to any and all who request said rites?
The government can do what they want with respect to parallel laws. However, the First Amendment should remain inviolate. Speech and religion should remain separate from governmental regulations - absent true human-rights violations (ever read the Koran and seen it applied?)…
Just to place things into context, President-elect Obama is ready to take the reigns of executive office. He lacks executive experience, but the Constitution requires the election scheme be adhered to. Fully 46% of voters felt he is not qualified to be commander-in-chief based on the popular vote, but 53% find him acceptable. Seems clear-cut to me. Obama is my president.
If he fails to adhere to the vote of 52% of Californians, how would he really govern? Oh, my…
Context is Everything
Nov 12, 2008 | 9:45 PM PST
Category:
Political
Bias:
n.
a. A preference or an inclination, especially one that inhibits impartial judgment.
b. An unfair act or policy stemming from prejudice.
Welcome to your “new” media - you know, the one that reported President-elect Obama’s leftist proclivities…Oh, sorry - I had a momentary lapse in factualism.
Anyway, knowing the media is biased does not mean we can identify every type. However, I think we have the least credible headline ever in an actual non-opinion news story:
Whales lose as top US court says Navy can keep sonar
Oh my God! The whales lost??? It wasn’t the whales that brought suit, it was leftist lawyers who figured they had plenty of donors giving them money, so they had to use those funds. They lost. Not the whales…
Since I have appointed myself the unenviable task of being hyper-critical of (mostly now formerly-elected) Republicans, I figure this hyper-(un)funny (and rather blunt) look back on Memory Lane should provide thinking adults who claim conservatism some food for thought:
What will destroy our country and us is not the financial crisis but the fact that liberals think the free market is some kind of sect or cult, which conservatives have asked Americans to take on faith. That's not what the free market is. The free market is just a measurement, a device to tell us what people are willing to pay for any given thing at any given moment. The free market is a bathroom scale. You may hate what you see when you step on the scale. "Jeeze, 230 pounds!" But you can't pass a law making yourself weigh 185. Liberals think you can [Marks Note: as does GWB and those who voted for the bailout package].
And voters--all the voters, right up to the tippy-top corner office of Goldman Sachs--think so too.
We, the conservatives, who do understand the free market, had the responsibility to--as it were--foreclose upon this mess. […]
Although I must say we're doing good work on our final task--attaching the garden hose to our car's exhaust pipe and running it in through a vent window. Barack and Michelle will be by in a moment with some subsidized ethanol to top up our gas tank. And then we can turn the key. Read the whole thing.
Christopher Hitchens, who endorsed Obama for President, presents an argument for moderation [meaning Liberalism should not seethe] from President-elect Obama‘s administration:
The national Treasury is an echoing, empty vault; our Russian and Iranian enemies are acting even more wolfishly even as they sense a repudiation of Bush-Cheney; the lines of jobless and evicted are going to lengthen, and I don't think a diet of hope is going to cover it. Nor even a diet of audacity, though can you picture anything less audacious than the gray, safety-first figures who have so far been chosen by Obama to be on his team?
The record seems clear that certain racial groups not aligned with today’s Republican party determined the outcome of gay marriage in California. So should the Republicans continue in their opposition to such organized assaults on “normalcy”? Further, if Republicans drop social issues, will that mean the end of the coalition?
My guess is “duh”…
***This meandering is strictly endorsed by Marks***
Grading the Campaigns
Nov 8, 2008 | 7:22 PM PST
Category:
Political
I bled a bunch of screen pixels over the fact that the national media was in coordination with the Barack Obama For President campaign. Okay, they may not have coordinated it, but you really couldn’t tell the difference between an Obama For President press release and an article written by a journalist or a TV story from a reporter in most instances.
Project for Excellence in Journalism
reported results of their study showed a sweeping pro-Obama slant in mainstream media (MSM) coverage.
So imagine my surprise when the Washington Post published their own internal review showing the exact same slant in their coverage:
But Obama deserved tougher scrutiny than he got, especially of his undergraduate years, his start in Chicago and his relationship with Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who was convicted this year of influence-peddling in Chicago. The Post did nothing on Obama's acknowledged drug use as a teenager.
I’ve stated before that the Obama of the campaign was not the Obama himself. When people have a blank slate to project their interpretations upon, the end result is a caricature that only bears superficial resemblance to that blank slate. “Hope” and “Change” achieve a meaning based not on policy but the dreams of the target audience.
This can be blamed on the MSM who failed to perform their "reported" job: informing their constituents (aka: consumers). No wonder newspapers are hemorrhaging dollars and the national broadcast news programs lose ratings nightly.
So, here are my grades:
The Obama campaign gets an A- for using this to their advantage.
The McCain campaign receives a C- for their efforts to overcome this (nothing could have overcame this, but throwing up your hands in frustration doesn't cut it).
The MSM earned a “No Participation” grade for failing to report.
One can only hope the MSM will actually report during the Obama Presidential Administration. Sure...
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Nov 7, 2008 | 9:06 PM PST
Category:
Political
After the shellacking Republicans received on election day, I'm not surprised the long knives have been unsheathed.
I'm a conservative. I have beliefs that apparently run counter to the ideas of 53% of American voters. Unlike the Democratic party - the party of factions looking to cut themselves into the never-expanding pie - I view a pie that is never static in size. Currently, that pie is receding faster than the surf during the stretch toward low tide.
That may answer the question of why McCain lost; when the economy tanks people look to place blame on whoever is carrying the party-in-power label. Indeed, up until September 15th McCain was leading in polls. After that, Lehman, etc. went downhill, and McCain followed them.
With the downfall of McCain comes the postmortems. Charles Krauthammer lists some of the reasons McCain-Palin failed, and while I do agree with number one - the financial meltdown - I can take issue with others. But I’m not bothered with his reasoning overall.
Where I take issue with is the infighting going on in the party.
When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. Stop it with the hyperbolic “Muslim” references, the petty digs on birth certificates and pride of country, or even the dress worn by Michelle Obama on election night. Obviously something transcended all the past associations that President-elect Obama had for 53% of the electorate. Economics? Probably.
Still, dwelling upon the past without understanding the present is what ultimately sank the USS John McCain . I say this figuratively, since the real USS John McCain is quite war-ready today. [Marks Note: USS John S. McCain is named for Senator McCain‘s father and Grandfather. I returned from a visit to Seattle and Vancouver in June where at one point I met with an old Navy buddy who was in charge of all electronics aboard the USS John McCain and had recently retired.] Campaign USS McCain was not able to defeat it’s greatest enemy: History's march.
Stop digging, people. The reason GWB won in 2004 was due to the childish nature of many on the left during Bush's tenure. Having visited many fever swamps in 2004 like DailyKOS and MYDD, I found myself in the netherworld of unhinged hysterical condemnation of Bush-the-Destroyer. If you want to repeat their mistakes, go ahead and roast me for offering Barack Obama congratulations for his win. Go ahead and write blogs that fail to convey the conservative message over lower taxes, lower spending, free-market based policies or limited government and instead focus your comments on my congratulatory attitude.
I am not going to lose my mind like this idiot did, but I will withhold judgment until Obama overreaches, and that will happen soon. He is the candidate that won, after all - and he has Pelosi and Reid to act as running back and quarterback. Watch for the fumble, and be ready to recover it...
Livin' High on the Hog
Nov 5, 2008 | 9:20 AM PST
Category:
Political
I am exhausted. This election began two years ago, and ended in the most improbable victory for two politicians who had little chance of winning their respective primary nominations. Follow this up with President-elect Barack Obama taking the White House on the back of some formerly Republican-voting states and you can see our nation has changed considerably over the course of just four years.
Just one final thought on John McCain. I doubt there was any way for McCain to navigate through the financial meltdown and subsequent bailout, but I said back in January that given the field of candidates McCain would be the only one who could win as a Republican in this year of discontent in the electorate. Since McCain lost, it seems obvious no Republican short of the reincarnation of Reagan could have won this year.
Anyway, in celebration of the ascension to President for Barack Obama, I think I'll take a break for a few days. First on my agenda is a game of golf on this somewhat windy day. Second, I will be reviewing my shrinking portfolio to see if there is a safe way to navigate through Democrat-controlled government over the course of the next two to four years. Doubtful on that...
Eating Their Young
Nov 4, 2008 | 11:19 PM PST
Category:
Political
Sure, McCain screwed the pooch. Had he done what I advocated in previous blogs - he would have won every state (um, sure...even with my almost zero campaign managerial experience).
So I was happy to find that PA has called me a racist and then questioned which country I fought for during my time in the US Navy.
PA, I wonder who our worst enemy is, and you keep coming up as a prime suspect...
This process will continue, folks...and it will get uglier.
The One Has Won
Nov 4, 2008 | 9:15 PM PST
Category:
Political
I congratulate President-elect Barack Obama for his victory tonight. America needs a steady hand on economic matters, and according to the results I am seeing, Senator Obama is leading Senator McCain in Pennsylvania. John Mcain could not have won without this state, and indeed he has lost.
May God Bless America - without Damning her...
Campaign Tactic?
Nov 3, 2008 | 6:17 PM PST
Category:
Political
What, Me Worry?
Nov 2, 2008 | 6:14 PM PST
Category:
Political
For people who don’t cringe (while reflexively reaching for their wallet to make sure it is still there) when they hear the phrase “I’m from the government and we’re here to help…” I’d like to offer this perspective:
Five things that keep Democrats up at night
For what it’s worth, I have already debunked Number 5 in Rich’s blog, so that is one less thing for you to worry about.
I'm Marks, and I am here to help...No, really!
Freedom Of Speech No More...
Nov 1, 2008 | 12:00 PM PST
Category:
Political
The political corruption that became apparent after “Joe the plumber” entered the political arena continues to get juicy coverage around Ohio.
As you may recall, Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher was thrust into the political spotlight after getting Senator Barack Obama to admit his tax plan was an effort to “spread the wealth” from top earners to those who did not earn it. Within hours of Joe being mentioned prominently in the last Presidential Debate, we learned the deep, dark secrets that Joe had a lien on his property due to owed back-taxes and that he did not have a license to practice plumbing.
You can rest assured that if Joe had unpaid child support, a DUI conviction, or a messy divorce we would have read about them immediately, and those reports would have been released by the state government on behalf of the Obama campaign.
Welcome to the coming thugocracy, where challenging the establishment class is met by vicious and alternate return fire.
Dumb and Dumber
Oct 31, 2008 | 10:43 PM PST
Category:
Political
An interesting study on the racial demarcation of the US military revealed that the military continues to have a very balanced racial representation of demographically defined groups (with the exception of Native Hawaiian/ Other Pacific Islanders
who hold a remarkable representation edge, but number-wise is statistically concurrent with historical levels).
So I was taken aback by this not-so-realistic representation:
"But they also said Barack Obama's appeal to youth, African-Americans and Hispanics — all groups over-represented in the military — could cut into support for John McCain."
What? I’m not certain the media has a clue on this. Yes, youth is over-represented in the military. As for the other offered groups? LOL…
Obviously they failed the demographic course offered by the Pentagon.
Obama Calls It Correctly
Oct 31, 2008 | 9:20 PM PST
Category:
Political
I have plenty of filler for this story, but none of it matters. Obama will win on Tuesday. I know this because the media has never been wrong in my lifetime. Polls are always right (see: 2000/2004).
At any rate, I thought this line was the most telling when one media group tried to approach The One:
"Come on guys, get back on the bus," he pleaded with journalists, many of whom had accompanied him from the airport to Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood.
“Back on the bus” or back in the tank…same difference.
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