'Nuff said.
Now, go vote. For the sake of your kids, and theirs.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Also On The Tennessee Ballot: The Right To Hunt And Fish
It's a sad commentary upon how completely out-of-control the federal government, the 'environmental movement' and legal profession has become, that it became necessary for the legislature of Tennessee to resort to an amendment to the state constitution.
It sets forth clearly that the citizens have a right to hunt and fish. Here is the language on the ballot:
The citizens of this state shall have the personal right to hunt and fish, subject to reasonable regulations and restrictions prescribed by law. The recognition of this right does not abrogate any private or public property rights, nor does it limit the state's power to regulate commercial activity. Traditional manners and means may be used to take non-threatened species.
Why, you ask, would it be necessary? Think about the animal rights types, and their allies in Washington, the press, academia, the courts, etc. etc.
The roads here are littered with deer this time of year. Mr. and Mrs. OS were nearly killed by a trophy buck last year. Twenty years ago, that boy would have been hanging above someone's fireplace, and the hunter's family would have been eating venison every week for the winter. There aren't enough hunters to harvest the herd. Slowly, slowly, regulations have been crushing both hunting and fishing in many states.
In Tennessee, hunting and fishing are a major recreation, but for more families than one would suspect, they are a way families get fed. OS buys his ammo at a small store, and more than once he has seen old boys in overalls coming in to buy one box of deer rounds, so they can make sure there is protein in the freezer.
So, if you're voting in Tennessee today, take a moment, and strike one more blow for freedom and sanity.
It's an unfortunate necessity, and it must be done, lest we lose our freedoms to those who would legislate, regulate and litigate them out of existence.
It sets forth clearly that the citizens have a right to hunt and fish. Here is the language on the ballot:
The citizens of this state shall have the personal right to hunt and fish, subject to reasonable regulations and restrictions prescribed by law. The recognition of this right does not abrogate any private or public property rights, nor does it limit the state's power to regulate commercial activity. Traditional manners and means may be used to take non-threatened species.
Why, you ask, would it be necessary? Think about the animal rights types, and their allies in Washington, the press, academia, the courts, etc. etc.
The roads here are littered with deer this time of year. Mr. and Mrs. OS were nearly killed by a trophy buck last year. Twenty years ago, that boy would have been hanging above someone's fireplace, and the hunter's family would have been eating venison every week for the winter. There aren't enough hunters to harvest the herd. Slowly, slowly, regulations have been crushing both hunting and fishing in many states.
In Tennessee, hunting and fishing are a major recreation, but for more families than one would suspect, they are a way families get fed. OS buys his ammo at a small store, and more than once he has seen old boys in overalls coming in to buy one box of deer rounds, so they can make sure there is protein in the freezer.
So, if you're voting in Tennessee today, take a moment, and strike one more blow for freedom and sanity.
It's an unfortunate necessity, and it must be done, lest we lose our freedoms to those who would legislate, regulate and litigate them out of existence.
We, The Enemy
From the WSJ, today:
Rep. John Boehner (R., Ohio), in line to become speaker if his party wins control of the House, accused Mr. Obama of calling his political opponents "enemies" in a recent pitch to Latino voters. In remarks prepared for a campaign rally in Cincinnati Monday night, Mr. Boehner was to say: "Mr. President, there's a word for people who have the audacity to speak up in defense of freedom, the Constitution and the values of limited government that made our country great. We don't call them 'enemies.' We call them patriots."
Mr. Boehner has been trying to spotlight a comment Mr. Obama made to a Spanish-language radio station. In that interview, Mr. Obama said Democrats would suffer on Election Day "if Latinos sit out the election, instead of saying, 'We're going to punish our enemies, and we're going to reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us.' "
In an interview Monday with syndicated radio host Michael Baisden, Mr. Obama said, "I probably should have used the word 'opponents' instead of 'enemies.' Now the Republicans are saying that I'm calling them enemies. What I'm saying is you're an opponent of this particular provision, comprehensive immigration reform, which is something very different."
Well, Mr. President, that's one of the dangers of going somewhere without your teleprompter. You just might reveal the content of your character, to borrow a phrase from Dr. King. You have a law degree from Harvard, and you edited the Law Review. You are President of The United States. Words matter, especially the ones from your lips. People expect you to act like a grown-up, not a South Side Chicago ward hustler. Oh, wait--that's what you are...never mind.
Howz'about he sez something like this:I was terribly mistaken to use that word. It should never have happened. It was the heat of the moment, but I am responsible for what I say. It will never happen again. Citizens of this great country who disagree with me are not my enemy. This is not a repeat of the Nixon
Administration.
But, he didn't say that. 'Cuz He meant what he said the first time. At least, finally, he admitted to it. That's worth something.
So, We The Enemy go to vote tomorrow. All of us, except for people like OS, who voted early, just in case he got run over by a truck before Election Day.
We The Enemy will likely hand Himself an historic comeuppance at the ballot box, which He has already explained away in His mind. We will continue to be The Enemy, and He and His will redouble their efforts to impose their VisionOfTheWorld upon this country, especially while he has a lame-session of defeated and pissed-off leftist Democrat politicians eager to take their pound of flesh before they leave office. (Next year, He'll still have the veto, and probably the Senate. And a bigger chip on his shoulder than ever. Chin-straps on, ever'body.)
Cuz' We The People are We The Enemy.
There's just a lot more of us than Himself expected to show up. Rather like the Sioux Nation of South Dakota that day long ago.
OS once visited the Little Big Horn battlefield. He came away stunned at General Custer's stupidity and arrogance. How could he have possibly created this sort of disaster? What was he thinking? Had he no concern for the lives and families of the men in his command? Why didn't he listen to the reports that told him he was riding into inescapable danger? Why didn't his officers protest, on behalf of their troops?
What was he thinking? What made him believe he was infallible?
At least, he wasn't President Custer...
Rep. John Boehner (R., Ohio), in line to become speaker if his party wins control of the House, accused Mr. Obama of calling his political opponents "enemies" in a recent pitch to Latino voters. In remarks prepared for a campaign rally in Cincinnati Monday night, Mr. Boehner was to say: "Mr. President, there's a word for people who have the audacity to speak up in defense of freedom, the Constitution and the values of limited government that made our country great. We don't call them 'enemies.' We call them patriots."
Mr. Boehner has been trying to spotlight a comment Mr. Obama made to a Spanish-language radio station. In that interview, Mr. Obama said Democrats would suffer on Election Day "if Latinos sit out the election, instead of saying, 'We're going to punish our enemies, and we're going to reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us.' "
In an interview Monday with syndicated radio host Michael Baisden, Mr. Obama said, "I probably should have used the word 'opponents' instead of 'enemies.' Now the Republicans are saying that I'm calling them enemies. What I'm saying is you're an opponent of this particular provision, comprehensive immigration reform, which is something very different."
Well, Mr. President, that's one of the dangers of going somewhere without your teleprompter. You just might reveal the content of your character, to borrow a phrase from Dr. King. You have a law degree from Harvard, and you edited the Law Review. You are President of The United States. Words matter, especially the ones from your lips. People expect you to act like a grown-up, not a South Side Chicago ward hustler. Oh, wait--that's what you are...never mind.
Howz'about he sez something like this:I was terribly mistaken to use that word. It should never have happened. It was the heat of the moment, but I am responsible for what I say. It will never happen again. Citizens of this great country who disagree with me are not my enemy. This is not a repeat of the Nixon
Administration.
But, he didn't say that. 'Cuz He meant what he said the first time. At least, finally, he admitted to it. That's worth something.
So, We The Enemy go to vote tomorrow. All of us, except for people like OS, who voted early, just in case he got run over by a truck before Election Day.
We The Enemy will likely hand Himself an historic comeuppance at the ballot box, which He has already explained away in His mind. We will continue to be The Enemy, and He and His will redouble their efforts to impose their VisionOfTheWorld upon this country, especially while he has a lame-session of defeated and pissed-off leftist Democrat politicians eager to take their pound of flesh before they leave office. (Next year, He'll still have the veto, and probably the Senate. And a bigger chip on his shoulder than ever. Chin-straps on, ever'body.)
Cuz' We The People are We The Enemy.
There's just a lot more of us than Himself expected to show up. Rather like the Sioux Nation of South Dakota that day long ago.
OS once visited the Little Big Horn battlefield. He came away stunned at General Custer's stupidity and arrogance. How could he have possibly created this sort of disaster? What was he thinking? Had he no concern for the lives and families of the men in his command? Why didn't he listen to the reports that told him he was riding into inescapable danger? Why didn't his officers protest, on behalf of their troops?
What was he thinking? What made him believe he was infallible?
At least, he wasn't President Custer...
The Official Catalogue Of Spin: Toby Harndon Shares His Top 10, With Quotes!
Toby Harnden is the Daily Telegraph's US Editor, based in Washington DC.
He, amongst the foreign correspondents, seems to have a most accurate view of us here, warts and all, and the writer's craft to inform both sides of the ocean. It's not easy. The two nations both speak English, to be sure, but the cultures are dramatically different. It gets interesting in hands-across-the-waters-mode, but that's tale for another time.
So, here's Toby's Top Ten:
It’s Wednesday morning, you’re a Democrat and you’re waking up after a terrible night. You’re hung over and you can’t quite remember what happened. You’re pretty sure you lost the House of Representatives and – who knows? – perhaps even the Senate as well. You have a vague recollection of Harry Reid being sent back to Searchlight, Nevada. It might have been a hallucination but didn’t you lose another Kennedy seat in New England too?
You reach for your remote control to check out what the pundits are saying but can’t find it. Perhaps someone threw it at the television set when Illinois went red (or was it Wisconsin?). Never mind, you don’t need to listen to the excuses because they’re all been aired beforehand. Here’s an idiot’s guide as to why the Democrats lost (with apologies to James Carville):
1. It’s the stupid, stupid
Barack Obama:
Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now – and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day all the time – is because we’re hard-wired not to always think clearly when we’re scared. And the country is scared, and they have good reason to be.
John Kerry:
It’s absurd. We’ve lost our minds. We’re in a period of know-nothingism in the country, where truth and science and facts don’t weigh in. It’s all short-order, lowest common denominator, cheap-seat politics.
Anyway, it’s been scientifically proven:
Research suggests that liberals and conservatives have different personality traits… liberals are more intellectually curious and tolerant of ambiguity…
2. It’s the nuts and wusses, stupid. Democrats ran away from Obama’s stellar record.
Tim Kaine:
I do think Democrats thinking that they can, you know, hold the Democratic label at arm’s length, I do think that’s nuts. You put the label after your name, be proud of it.
Ed Rendell
We’re a bunch of wusses. We’re running from the things that we’ve done, running from the things we believe instead of saying, ‘Here’s what we stand for. If we’re going to lose, let’s go down fighting for the things we believe in’.
3. We’re just so focussed on good policy, stupid. Democrats just did the right thing instead of worrying about grubby politics.
Barack Obama:
Given how much stuff was coming at us, we probably spent much more time trying to get the policy right than trying to get the politics right. There is probably a perverse pride in my administration — and I take responsibility for this; this was blowing from the top — that we were going to do the right thing, even if short-term it was unpopular.
Harry Reid
We’re going to write a bill that sets reasonable goals over a reasonable time frame that’d benefit both our environment and our economy. We’re going to write a bill that can pass the Senate. My caucus is ready to get to work, but we need the cooperation of brave Republicans. It’s my hope they will join us in putting good policy over bad politics.
4. It’s the history, stupid. The president’s party always loses in the mid-terms (move along, nothing to see here).
Dick Durbin
Oh, of course we’ll lose some seats in the Senate and in the House. That’s what history tells us.
Mark Mellman
History ordains Democratic losses — in all but four midterms since the Civil War, the party controlling the White House has lost House seats…First, significant losses were the baseline for this year. Forget the stimulus. Forget healthcare. Forget global warming and partisanship (bi- or otherwise). Normal midterm effects and Democratic exposure, let alone the economy, all but guaranteed substantial losses and a House in play. Anyone expecting small losses this year was out of touch with both historical precedent and economic reality.
5. You’re impatient, stupid. Change has not come fast enough and Obama was much too moderate.
Michelle Obama:
And I know for so many people, change has not come fast enough. Believe me, it hasn’t come fast enough for Barack, either.
Paul Krugman
A few commentators will point out, with much more justice, that Mr. Obama never made a full-throated case for progressive policies, that he consistently stepped on his own message, that he was so worried about making bankers nervous that he ended up ceding populist anger to the right.
6. It’s the message, not the product, stupid. Democrats have great policies but a poor message.
Ed Rendell
I think this administration has done a great job… We just did a lousy job communicating it. We let the Republicans, to their credit, out-spin us a year-and-a-half ago, and we’re paying the price.
Bill Maher
The Democrats are very bad at selling their own product. The Republicans are geniuses at it. And I’ve said it before, a bad product well apologized for is superior in this country to a good product.
7. It’s Rove and those dastardly foreigners, stupid. Karl Rove and shadowy outside groups funded by foreign money swamped the Democrats with cash, corrupting our democracy.
DNC ad:
Karl Rove, Ed Gillespie: They’re Bush Cronies. The US Chamber of Commerce: They’re Shills for Big Business. And they’re stealing our democracy. Spending millions from secret donors to elect Republicans to do their bidding in Congress. It appears they’re even taking secret foreign money to influence our elections.
Alexi Giannoulias
Now Karl Rove and the chamber have spent about $10 million in secret money, in secret money where you don’t know where it’s coming from, what country and what amounts, to try and take President Obama’s senate seat. It’s pretty simple. Mark Kirk helped George Bush and Karl Rove wreck this economy, and now Karl Rove is repaying the favour to Congressman Kirk.
(don’t mention the fact that the Democrats spent more money)
8. It’s the racism, stupid.
NAACP:
It is the notion that President Barack Obama is not a real natural born American, that he is some other kind of person, that abounds in Tea Party ranks and draws this movement into a pit of no return.
Barack Obama:
And then there are probably some aspects of the Tea Party that are a little darker, that have to do with anti-immigrant sentiment or are troubled by what I represent as the president.
9. It’s the media’s fault (especially Fox), stupid.
John Kerry
Television seems to exclusively gravitate toward the conflict and whatever is bad, rather than really focusing on the kinds of things that are good and make a difference.
Jimmy Carter
I think under the circumstances that I just described, he’s done an extraordinary job,” Carter said. “He’s got some good things done. They’ve been totally twisted around by some of the irresponsible news media to project him as a person that he’s not and as we all know.
10. It’s stupid Bush, stupid.
Barack Obama
They don’t have a single idea that’s different from George Bush’s ideas–not one…We got here after 10 years of an economic agenda in Washington that was pretty straight forward. You cut taxes for millionaires, you cut rules for special interests, and you cut working folks loose to fend for themselves. That was the philosophy of the last administration and their friends in Congress.
Chris Van Hollen
President George W. Bush and House Republicans drove our economy into a ditch and tried to run away from the accident. President Obama and congressional Democrats have been focused repairing the damage to our economy. Elections are about choices and this year’s Midterms will be a choice between continuing the economic progress and independent leadership that House Democrats are delivering for their districts versus Republicans who are eager to turn back the clock to the same failed Bush-Cheney policies that brought our economy to the brink of collapse.
******
This all reminds OS of a popular debating topic from the late 19th century South: Who lost the Battle of Gettysburg?
Some would argue it was Lee. Or his generals who wouldn't accept his orders. Or lack of men, or lack of supplies, or the weather; or Pickett, for sending his men on that foolhardy doomed charge across open ground against reinforced positions on high ground.(That seemed to be a favorite Confederate Army tactic...)
One night, somewhere in Dixie, the argument started again, and became louder and louder, positively vociferous.
Until one old man silenced them all by saying: Boys, I wuz there! Personally, I think the Yankees had a lot to do with us losing that battle...
He, amongst the foreign correspondents, seems to have a most accurate view of us here, warts and all, and the writer's craft to inform both sides of the ocean. It's not easy. The two nations both speak English, to be sure, but the cultures are dramatically different. It gets interesting in hands-across-the-waters-mode, but that's tale for another time.
So, here's Toby's Top Ten:
It’s Wednesday morning, you’re a Democrat and you’re waking up after a terrible night. You’re hung over and you can’t quite remember what happened. You’re pretty sure you lost the House of Representatives and – who knows? – perhaps even the Senate as well. You have a vague recollection of Harry Reid being sent back to Searchlight, Nevada. It might have been a hallucination but didn’t you lose another Kennedy seat in New England too?
You reach for your remote control to check out what the pundits are saying but can’t find it. Perhaps someone threw it at the television set when Illinois went red (or was it Wisconsin?). Never mind, you don’t need to listen to the excuses because they’re all been aired beforehand. Here’s an idiot’s guide as to why the Democrats lost (with apologies to James Carville):
1. It’s the stupid, stupid
Barack Obama:
Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now – and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day all the time – is because we’re hard-wired not to always think clearly when we’re scared. And the country is scared, and they have good reason to be.
John Kerry:
It’s absurd. We’ve lost our minds. We’re in a period of know-nothingism in the country, where truth and science and facts don’t weigh in. It’s all short-order, lowest common denominator, cheap-seat politics.
Anyway, it’s been scientifically proven:
Research suggests that liberals and conservatives have different personality traits… liberals are more intellectually curious and tolerant of ambiguity…
2. It’s the nuts and wusses, stupid. Democrats ran away from Obama’s stellar record.
Tim Kaine:
I do think Democrats thinking that they can, you know, hold the Democratic label at arm’s length, I do think that’s nuts. You put the label after your name, be proud of it.
Ed Rendell
We’re a bunch of wusses. We’re running from the things that we’ve done, running from the things we believe instead of saying, ‘Here’s what we stand for. If we’re going to lose, let’s go down fighting for the things we believe in’.
3. We’re just so focussed on good policy, stupid. Democrats just did the right thing instead of worrying about grubby politics.
Barack Obama:
Given how much stuff was coming at us, we probably spent much more time trying to get the policy right than trying to get the politics right. There is probably a perverse pride in my administration — and I take responsibility for this; this was blowing from the top — that we were going to do the right thing, even if short-term it was unpopular.
Harry Reid
We’re going to write a bill that sets reasonable goals over a reasonable time frame that’d benefit both our environment and our economy. We’re going to write a bill that can pass the Senate. My caucus is ready to get to work, but we need the cooperation of brave Republicans. It’s my hope they will join us in putting good policy over bad politics.
4. It’s the history, stupid. The president’s party always loses in the mid-terms (move along, nothing to see here).
Dick Durbin
Oh, of course we’ll lose some seats in the Senate and in the House. That’s what history tells us.
Mark Mellman
History ordains Democratic losses — in all but four midterms since the Civil War, the party controlling the White House has lost House seats…First, significant losses were the baseline for this year. Forget the stimulus. Forget healthcare. Forget global warming and partisanship (bi- or otherwise). Normal midterm effects and Democratic exposure, let alone the economy, all but guaranteed substantial losses and a House in play. Anyone expecting small losses this year was out of touch with both historical precedent and economic reality.
5. You’re impatient, stupid. Change has not come fast enough and Obama was much too moderate.
Michelle Obama:
And I know for so many people, change has not come fast enough. Believe me, it hasn’t come fast enough for Barack, either.
Paul Krugman
A few commentators will point out, with much more justice, that Mr. Obama never made a full-throated case for progressive policies, that he consistently stepped on his own message, that he was so worried about making bankers nervous that he ended up ceding populist anger to the right.
6. It’s the message, not the product, stupid. Democrats have great policies but a poor message.
Ed Rendell
I think this administration has done a great job… We just did a lousy job communicating it. We let the Republicans, to their credit, out-spin us a year-and-a-half ago, and we’re paying the price.
Bill Maher
The Democrats are very bad at selling their own product. The Republicans are geniuses at it. And I’ve said it before, a bad product well apologized for is superior in this country to a good product.
7. It’s Rove and those dastardly foreigners, stupid. Karl Rove and shadowy outside groups funded by foreign money swamped the Democrats with cash, corrupting our democracy.
DNC ad:
Karl Rove, Ed Gillespie: They’re Bush Cronies. The US Chamber of Commerce: They’re Shills for Big Business. And they’re stealing our democracy. Spending millions from secret donors to elect Republicans to do their bidding in Congress. It appears they’re even taking secret foreign money to influence our elections.
Alexi Giannoulias
Now Karl Rove and the chamber have spent about $10 million in secret money, in secret money where you don’t know where it’s coming from, what country and what amounts, to try and take President Obama’s senate seat. It’s pretty simple. Mark Kirk helped George Bush and Karl Rove wreck this economy, and now Karl Rove is repaying the favour to Congressman Kirk.
(don’t mention the fact that the Democrats spent more money)
8. It’s the racism, stupid.
NAACP:
It is the notion that President Barack Obama is not a real natural born American, that he is some other kind of person, that abounds in Tea Party ranks and draws this movement into a pit of no return.
Barack Obama:
And then there are probably some aspects of the Tea Party that are a little darker, that have to do with anti-immigrant sentiment or are troubled by what I represent as the president.
9. It’s the media’s fault (especially Fox), stupid.
John Kerry
Television seems to exclusively gravitate toward the conflict and whatever is bad, rather than really focusing on the kinds of things that are good and make a difference.
Jimmy Carter
I think under the circumstances that I just described, he’s done an extraordinary job,” Carter said. “He’s got some good things done. They’ve been totally twisted around by some of the irresponsible news media to project him as a person that he’s not and as we all know.
10. It’s stupid Bush, stupid.
Barack Obama
They don’t have a single idea that’s different from George Bush’s ideas–not one…We got here after 10 years of an economic agenda in Washington that was pretty straight forward. You cut taxes for millionaires, you cut rules for special interests, and you cut working folks loose to fend for themselves. That was the philosophy of the last administration and their friends in Congress.
Chris Van Hollen
President George W. Bush and House Republicans drove our economy into a ditch and tried to run away from the accident. President Obama and congressional Democrats have been focused repairing the damage to our economy. Elections are about choices and this year’s Midterms will be a choice between continuing the economic progress and independent leadership that House Democrats are delivering for their districts versus Republicans who are eager to turn back the clock to the same failed Bush-Cheney policies that brought our economy to the brink of collapse.
******
This all reminds OS of a popular debating topic from the late 19th century South: Who lost the Battle of Gettysburg?
Some would argue it was Lee. Or his generals who wouldn't accept his orders. Or lack of men, or lack of supplies, or the weather; or Pickett, for sending his men on that foolhardy doomed charge across open ground against reinforced positions on high ground.(That seemed to be a favorite Confederate Army tactic...)
One night, somewhere in Dixie, the argument started again, and became louder and louder, positively vociferous.
Until one old man silenced them all by saying: Boys, I wuz there! Personally, I think the Yankees had a lot to do with us losing that battle...
Sunday, October 31, 2010
'Corrupt Bastards'--Unspeakably Corrupt Bastards
OS is not a big fan of Sarah Palin, but everyone in the public arena deserves the right to express ideas without fear of being slandered for their troubles. That's why OS doesn't rant about Obama's birth certificate, or conspiracy theories, or the wild allegations made about the bodies the Clintons left in their wake. It's tin-foil-hat nonsense, not worthy of a civil society.
But, this--this is something else entirely. This is a smoking gun, this is about the deliberate attempt to slander someone, and Ms. Palin is utterly justified in crying 'foul'. This stuff, unopposed, drives the stake in the heart of the culture.
Sarah Palin finally took the verbal gloves off, as well she should, when she referred to the journalists of the CBS affiliate in Alaska as 'corrupt bastards'.
They were caught on voicemail in the act of being themselves, deliberately attempting to dig up dirt, any kind of dirt, even if they had to create it themselves, against Joe Miller. It was a conspiracy to slander, enthusiastically undertaken.
Here it is, in both recording and transcript.
Only the most myopically naive among us could believe this to be an isolated incident.
Enough already.
Vote the bastards out.
Demand their minions be fired.
But, this--this is something else entirely. This is a smoking gun, this is about the deliberate attempt to slander someone, and Ms. Palin is utterly justified in crying 'foul'. This stuff, unopposed, drives the stake in the heart of the culture.
Sarah Palin finally took the verbal gloves off, as well she should, when she referred to the journalists of the CBS affiliate in Alaska as 'corrupt bastards'.
They were caught on voicemail in the act of being themselves, deliberately attempting to dig up dirt, any kind of dirt, even if they had to create it themselves, against Joe Miller. It was a conspiracy to slander, enthusiastically undertaken.
Here it is, in both recording and transcript.
Only the most myopically naive among us could believe this to be an isolated incident.
Enough already.
Vote the bastards out.
Demand their minions be fired.
As The Spin Ceases, Obama's Apologists Begin To Fold Their Tents
Pat Caddell was one of Bill Clinton's principal pollsters. A more partisan Democrat you are not likely to find.
So when he and his colleague, Douglas E. Schoen, also a Democrat pollster, join forces to publish an essay like this, in Saturday's Washington Post, it says several things:
1. It admits the obvious, that Obama is a fraud, a self-dealing narcissist who will say anything, and do anything to anyone, to further his own agenda. He would rather poison the well of the culture than not get his own way, or exercise even a touch of the humility required to be an effective leader.
2. Obama's contempt for the nation extends to even the Presidency itself. Caddell and Schoen have been around a while, and they cannot remember a more disastrous Presidency since Richard Nixon, as in a President who so thoroughly degraded the office. And that's with Carter and Clinton intervening! Whoddathunk we'd have someone who literally stained the office more than Bill Clinton?
3. The Washington Post is no longer willing to carry the water for Obama. The honeymoon is over. He has abused even them past the point of tolerance. For this essay to even appear in their pages, this iconic institution of the Left, means that the publisher has had enough. The publisher has a duty to keep his doors open long after the Clown Circus has left town. If he destroys the paper's credibility by looking the other way as Obama burns the country down, he destroys the business. He has a duty to his shareholders and employees, and is finally locating his spine.
4. The Yew Nork Times was cited in the essay. They won't be far behind, ya'll.
Here's a smattering of what Caddell and Schoen had to say. OS never thought, in his lifetime, he'd see Caddell say this about any Democrat:
In a Univision interview on Monday, the president, who campaigned in 2008 by referring not to a "Red America" or a "Blue America" but a United States of America, urged Hispanic listeners to vote in this spirit: "We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us."
Recently, Obama suggested that if Republicans gain control of the House and/or Senate as forecast, he expects not reconciliation and unity but "hand-to-hand combat" on Capitol Hill.
What a change two years can bring.
We can think of only one other recent president who would display such indifference to the majesty of his office: Richard Nixon.
We write in sadness as traditional liberal Democrats who believe in inclusion. Like many Americans, we had hoped that Obama would maintain the spirit in which he campaigned. Instead, since taking office, he has pitted group against group for short-term political gain that is exacerbating the divisions in our country and weakening our national identity.The culture of attack politics and demonization risks compromising our ability to address our most important issues - and the stature of our nation's highest office.
We are also disturbed that the office of the president is mounting attacks on private individuals, such as the founders of the group Americans for Prosperity. Having been forged politically during Watergate - one of us was the youngest member of Nixon's enemies list - we are chilled by the prospect of any U.S. president willing to marshal the power of his office against a private citizen.
The president is the leader of our society. That office is supposed to be a unifying force. When a president opts for polarization, it is not only bad politics, but it also diminishes the prestige of his office and damages our social consensus.
Moreover, the divisive rhetoric that Obama has pursued can embolden his supporters and critics to take more extreme actions, worsening the spiral.
Caddell and Schoen are saying, in effect: As far as we're concerned, stick a fork in him, he's done. We won't be identified as his supporters anymore.
OS is cynic enough to know that they are trying to prop up another run by Hillary. God help us, we'd be going from the frying pan into the fire, from one creep to another. Bill would be back in the White House, bangin' babes and creating chaos.
No, no, no, no.
No!
Here's hoping, for the good of the Republic, that Heath Shuler runs for the Democrat nomination. He's one of the first Democrat House members who called for MizNancy to step aside, and that he won't vote for her, in any case. OS may not vote for him in 2012, but he wouldn't lay awake at night if Shuler won.
We need grownups, on both sides of the aisle.
We desperately need them at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Maybe this essay from Caddell and Schoen will start the process.
So when he and his colleague, Douglas E. Schoen, also a Democrat pollster, join forces to publish an essay like this, in Saturday's Washington Post, it says several things:
1. It admits the obvious, that Obama is a fraud, a self-dealing narcissist who will say anything, and do anything to anyone, to further his own agenda. He would rather poison the well of the culture than not get his own way, or exercise even a touch of the humility required to be an effective leader.
2. Obama's contempt for the nation extends to even the Presidency itself. Caddell and Schoen have been around a while, and they cannot remember a more disastrous Presidency since Richard Nixon, as in a President who so thoroughly degraded the office. And that's with Carter and Clinton intervening! Whoddathunk we'd have someone who literally stained the office more than Bill Clinton?
3. The Washington Post is no longer willing to carry the water for Obama. The honeymoon is over. He has abused even them past the point of tolerance. For this essay to even appear in their pages, this iconic institution of the Left, means that the publisher has had enough. The publisher has a duty to keep his doors open long after the Clown Circus has left town. If he destroys the paper's credibility by looking the other way as Obama burns the country down, he destroys the business. He has a duty to his shareholders and employees, and is finally locating his spine.
4. The Yew Nork Times was cited in the essay. They won't be far behind, ya'll.
Here's a smattering of what Caddell and Schoen had to say. OS never thought, in his lifetime, he'd see Caddell say this about any Democrat:
In a Univision interview on Monday, the president, who campaigned in 2008 by referring not to a "Red America" or a "Blue America" but a United States of America, urged Hispanic listeners to vote in this spirit: "We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us."
Recently, Obama suggested that if Republicans gain control of the House and/or Senate as forecast, he expects not reconciliation and unity but "hand-to-hand combat" on Capitol Hill.
What a change two years can bring.
We can think of only one other recent president who would display such indifference to the majesty of his office: Richard Nixon.
We write in sadness as traditional liberal Democrats who believe in inclusion. Like many Americans, we had hoped that Obama would maintain the spirit in which he campaigned. Instead, since taking office, he has pitted group against group for short-term political gain that is exacerbating the divisions in our country and weakening our national identity.The culture of attack politics and demonization risks compromising our ability to address our most important issues - and the stature of our nation's highest office.
We are also disturbed that the office of the president is mounting attacks on private individuals, such as the founders of the group Americans for Prosperity. Having been forged politically during Watergate - one of us was the youngest member of Nixon's enemies list - we are chilled by the prospect of any U.S. president willing to marshal the power of his office against a private citizen.
The president is the leader of our society. That office is supposed to be a unifying force. When a president opts for polarization, it is not only bad politics, but it also diminishes the prestige of his office and damages our social consensus.
Moreover, the divisive rhetoric that Obama has pursued can embolden his supporters and critics to take more extreme actions, worsening the spiral.
Caddell and Schoen are saying, in effect: As far as we're concerned, stick a fork in him, he's done. We won't be identified as his supporters anymore.
OS is cynic enough to know that they are trying to prop up another run by Hillary. God help us, we'd be going from the frying pan into the fire, from one creep to another. Bill would be back in the White House, bangin' babes and creating chaos.
No, no, no, no.
No!
Here's hoping, for the good of the Republic, that Heath Shuler runs for the Democrat nomination. He's one of the first Democrat House members who called for MizNancy to step aside, and that he won't vote for her, in any case. OS may not vote for him in 2012, but he wouldn't lay awake at night if Shuler won.
We need grownups, on both sides of the aisle.
We desperately need them at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Maybe this essay from Caddell and Schoen will start the process.
Illinois Is BROKE, Ya'll! So Now They Demand Bi-lingual Education For Preschoolers
File under 'You just can't make this stuff up!'
From the Chicago Tribune, 13 September 2010:
As the school year begins, Illinois becomes the first state to mandate that public schools with preschool programs offer a bilingual education to 3- and 4-year-olds who don't speak English.
Under the new regulations, school officials must determine whether students speak another language at home and measure how well they speak and understand English. They then must offer those who need it a seat in a bilingual preschool class, where they study basic academic skills in their native language as they learn English.
But from Carpentersville to Champaign, local school districts are hurrying to comply with the requirements that come without additional funding, even as they brace for another year of dwindling reserves and funding delays.
What are they thinking?
Or, are they assuming, like Kuhlifornia, that no matter how outrageous the behavior, TheOneWe'veBeenWaitingFor will bail them out?
Please, ya'll. If you're registered to vote in Illinois, vote these clowns out.
We don't have any money to send your way, and even if we did, we wouldn't.
From the Chicago Tribune, 13 September 2010:
As the school year begins, Illinois becomes the first state to mandate that public schools with preschool programs offer a bilingual education to 3- and 4-year-olds who don't speak English.
Under the new regulations, school officials must determine whether students speak another language at home and measure how well they speak and understand English. They then must offer those who need it a seat in a bilingual preschool class, where they study basic academic skills in their native language as they learn English.
But from Carpentersville to Champaign, local school districts are hurrying to comply with the requirements that come without additional funding, even as they brace for another year of dwindling reserves and funding delays.
What are they thinking?
Or, are they assuming, like Kuhlifornia, that no matter how outrageous the behavior, TheOneWe'veBeenWaitingFor will bail them out?
Please, ya'll. If you're registered to vote in Illinois, vote these clowns out.
We don't have any money to send your way, and even if we did, we wouldn't.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
The Spin Ceases, And The Anxiety Attacks Begin: Robert Reich On The Tea Party
It's dawned upon Robert Reich that all them ig'nrant, gun-totin', Bahble-thumpin, never-went-to-Harvard-but-can-read-the-Constitution, AstroTurfin, TeaBaggin', 8/28-attendin', tri-corner-hat, hand-lettered-sign-totin' people, and their friends and families, are alllllll showing up to vote on Tuesday, and that Tuesday is just the beginning, not the end, of the process.
His contempt for all those little people is unabated, but his dismissiveness has, well, turned into open worry.
What if those cretins actually reassert the rights of the states, because they will also be voting in state legislators from their own ranks?
What if they disassemble the IRS?
And the welfare state?
What if they decide that (OMG! OMG! OMG!) they need not pay the salaries of academics at state universities who despise them, like Robert Reich, who assume that the legislature will just keep sending money, no matter how badly they act? What if they decide not to spend money on degree programs in Wimmen's Studies, Queer Sociology, Ethnic History Studies, Ebonics, or any of the plethora of useless/politically-correct liberal arts offerings and special offices that have supplanted useful things like Classics, Ancient Languages, Modern Languages, etc. OMG! OMG!
What if they disassemble the IRS? (Oops, did that one already, but it's worth repeating. If you take away the money and power from the ruling elites, they have to find honest work out in the real world...)
What if they break the umbilical cord between the large corporations and the Federal Government, especially the large banks?
What if they insist the Supreme Court be comprised of justices drawn from schools other than Harvard or Yale?
What if they insist that we face the reality that we can't have a viable government if we have porous borders?
What if they insist that people who aren't citizens can't vote? Or that felons shouldn't vote?
Reich attempts, one final time, to explain it away:
Under normal times ideas like these wouldn’t gain much public traction. Why are they now? Because of the continuing effects of the Great Recession. History has shown that people threatened by losses of jobs, wages, homes, and savings are easy prey for demagogues who turn those fears into anger directed at major institutions of a society, as well as individuals and minorities who become easy scapegoats – immigrants, foreign traders, particular religious groups. Were it not for their ongoing economic stresses, Americans wouldn’t be receptive to abolishing the Federal Reserve and the IRS, or believe government and big business were conspiring against them, or turn nativist and isolationist.
It's the old 'ignorant rabble' theory. No need to worry, after all, right?
Robert Reich has reason to worry. The world he has inhabited, where everyone holds at least an M.A. from an Ivy, where everyone transitions seamlessly from government to academia to corporate boards and back again, an endless life of influence and cash flow, with almost no accountability, is now about to change, irrevocably.
He thought Obama would finally set it in stone for him and his tribe.
He didn't count on another tribe getting itself organized, without permission.
His contempt for all those little people is unabated, but his dismissiveness has, well, turned into open worry.
What if those cretins actually reassert the rights of the states, because they will also be voting in state legislators from their own ranks?
What if they disassemble the IRS?
And the welfare state?
What if they decide that (OMG! OMG! OMG!) they need not pay the salaries of academics at state universities who despise them, like Robert Reich, who assume that the legislature will just keep sending money, no matter how badly they act? What if they decide not to spend money on degree programs in Wimmen's Studies, Queer Sociology, Ethnic History Studies, Ebonics, or any of the plethora of useless/politically-correct liberal arts offerings and special offices that have supplanted useful things like Classics, Ancient Languages, Modern Languages, etc. OMG! OMG!
What if they disassemble the IRS? (Oops, did that one already, but it's worth repeating. If you take away the money and power from the ruling elites, they have to find honest work out in the real world...)
What if they break the umbilical cord between the large corporations and the Federal Government, especially the large banks?
What if they insist the Supreme Court be comprised of justices drawn from schools other than Harvard or Yale?
What if they insist that we face the reality that we can't have a viable government if we have porous borders?
What if they insist that people who aren't citizens can't vote? Or that felons shouldn't vote?
Reich attempts, one final time, to explain it away:
Under normal times ideas like these wouldn’t gain much public traction. Why are they now? Because of the continuing effects of the Great Recession. History has shown that people threatened by losses of jobs, wages, homes, and savings are easy prey for demagogues who turn those fears into anger directed at major institutions of a society, as well as individuals and minorities who become easy scapegoats – immigrants, foreign traders, particular religious groups. Were it not for their ongoing economic stresses, Americans wouldn’t be receptive to abolishing the Federal Reserve and the IRS, or believe government and big business were conspiring against them, or turn nativist and isolationist.
It's the old 'ignorant rabble' theory. No need to worry, after all, right?
Robert Reich has reason to worry. The world he has inhabited, where everyone holds at least an M.A. from an Ivy, where everyone transitions seamlessly from government to academia to corporate boards and back again, an endless life of influence and cash flow, with almost no accountability, is now about to change, irrevocably.
He thought Obama would finally set it in stone for him and his tribe.
He didn't count on another tribe getting itself organized, without permission.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Spin, Spin, Spin--Until The Spin Stops Working: Memphis TN-9 Congressional Race
It appears that Charlotte Bergmann, the GOP candidate for TN-9, the Congressional seat for Memphis, may truly be poised to upset Steve Cohen, the Democratic incumbent.
Charlotte is the Democrats' nightmare: She's black, she's accompished, she's conservative, she's a church lady, and she's--well--a she. And she ain't skeered of nobody.
Memphis has been a virtual Democrat plantation for decades, dating back to its founding by Andrew Jackson, one of the founders of the Democratic Party, and Boss Crump, who ran the place for nearly four decades. He was succeeded by the Ford family, famous for its mortuary and funeral business, and its curious habit of voting the dead. Wonder how that happened, huh? The patriarch, John, is still serving out his sentence for selling his office of State Senator to undercover FBI agents with a briefcase of cash. They had him on video for the trial. He also raised eyebrows when he emptied his 9mm into a lorry that pissed him off one day on I-40, if memory serves.
It is also one of America's most blighted, violent, and racially divided cities. Portions are just fabulously beautiful, but so many who could escape to the eastern suburbs did just that. Memphis is a place unto itself, its own state of being.
It may be just about to wake up to what the welfare state has done to it.
This from The Memphis Commercial Appeal from last week.
It doesn't take a degree in political science or expertise in demography to understand the challenge Democrats find themselves facing after the first four days of early voting: Matching the energy and motivation of traditional Republican voters for the Nov. 2 elections is again proving difficult after an August election that was disastrous for local Democrats.
This time around, the results could reverberate well beyond Shelby County borders to the respective Capitol Hills in Nashville and Washington.
The data made available by the Shelby County Election Commission from the first three days of early voting (Wednesday through Friday) show that of the 15,600 people who cast early ballots, 8,623 were categorized as registered white voters, or 55.3 percent of the overall total -- a stunning number considering that white people make up just 29.8 percent of the county's 603,070 registered voters.
Compare that to ballots cast by 3,033 registered black voters, or just 19.4 percent of the total for the group that records show account for 34.4 percent of the county's electorate.
Hmmm....and a goodly number of those black voters could well be voting for Ms. Bergmann!
Soooo...the Machine has really ratcheted up the ground game, and Himself has dispatched Cabinet members to campaign in Memphis. Nobody used to bother, 'cuz Memphis was a Democrat plantation. In other words, they have reason to worry.
Now, remember the spin? How this election isn't about Obama? Well, let's check in with the Dems campaigning in Memphis:
The big Republican numbers came despite a week of strong Democratic organizing, according to county chairman Van Turner. Democrats had a big rally Tuesday night in conjunction with President Barack Obama's political arm, Organizing for America, that included popular Memphis Mayor A C Wharton and two top White House cabinet-level officials -- Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and U.S. trade representative Ron Kirk.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike McWherter also greatly increased his presence here last week, including participating on phone banking Saturday.
Turner acknowledged that "the energy is on the Republicans' side," which he ascribed to "hatred and fear" of national Democratic leaders.
"We're trying to tell people that they went to the polls in record numbers in 2008 and they should not sit this one out," Turner said. "We say that a vote from you this election is a vote for the president."
Did ya'll catch that last line?
"We say that a vote from you this election is a vote for the president."
That first pronoun of the sentence is in the plural, ya'll.
'We'.
As the day approaches, the veneer begins to slip away. The spin jest won't pass the sniff test no moh'.
If you're a registered voter in Memphis, and you love your city, this is the best opportunity in years to break the back of the machine that has victimized your town for so long. It's a way to break the back of the racial polarization that the machine has fed and exploited in order to remain in power.
Even if Charlotte doesn't win, but has a good showing, your vote for her sends the message that timez iz changed, and bizness az uzual jest won't do no moh'.
Howz'at foh sum Hope-n-Change, ya'll?
Charlotte is the Democrats' nightmare: She's black, she's accompished, she's conservative, she's a church lady, and she's--well--a she. And she ain't skeered of nobody.
Memphis has been a virtual Democrat plantation for decades, dating back to its founding by Andrew Jackson, one of the founders of the Democratic Party, and Boss Crump, who ran the place for nearly four decades. He was succeeded by the Ford family, famous for its mortuary and funeral business, and its curious habit of voting the dead. Wonder how that happened, huh? The patriarch, John, is still serving out his sentence for selling his office of State Senator to undercover FBI agents with a briefcase of cash. They had him on video for the trial. He also raised eyebrows when he emptied his 9mm into a lorry that pissed him off one day on I-40, if memory serves.
It is also one of America's most blighted, violent, and racially divided cities. Portions are just fabulously beautiful, but so many who could escape to the eastern suburbs did just that. Memphis is a place unto itself, its own state of being.
It may be just about to wake up to what the welfare state has done to it.
This from The Memphis Commercial Appeal from last week.
It doesn't take a degree in political science or expertise in demography to understand the challenge Democrats find themselves facing after the first four days of early voting: Matching the energy and motivation of traditional Republican voters for the Nov. 2 elections is again proving difficult after an August election that was disastrous for local Democrats.
This time around, the results could reverberate well beyond Shelby County borders to the respective Capitol Hills in Nashville and Washington.
The data made available by the Shelby County Election Commission from the first three days of early voting (Wednesday through Friday) show that of the 15,600 people who cast early ballots, 8,623 were categorized as registered white voters, or 55.3 percent of the overall total -- a stunning number considering that white people make up just 29.8 percent of the county's 603,070 registered voters.
Compare that to ballots cast by 3,033 registered black voters, or just 19.4 percent of the total for the group that records show account for 34.4 percent of the county's electorate.
Hmmm....and a goodly number of those black voters could well be voting for Ms. Bergmann!
Soooo...the Machine has really ratcheted up the ground game, and Himself has dispatched Cabinet members to campaign in Memphis. Nobody used to bother, 'cuz Memphis was a Democrat plantation. In other words, they have reason to worry.
Now, remember the spin? How this election isn't about Obama? Well, let's check in with the Dems campaigning in Memphis:
The big Republican numbers came despite a week of strong Democratic organizing, according to county chairman Van Turner. Democrats had a big rally Tuesday night in conjunction with President Barack Obama's political arm, Organizing for America, that included popular Memphis Mayor A C Wharton and two top White House cabinet-level officials -- Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and U.S. trade representative Ron Kirk.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike McWherter also greatly increased his presence here last week, including participating on phone banking Saturday.
Turner acknowledged that "the energy is on the Republicans' side," which he ascribed to "hatred and fear" of national Democratic leaders.
"We're trying to tell people that they went to the polls in record numbers in 2008 and they should not sit this one out," Turner said. "We say that a vote from you this election is a vote for the president."
Did ya'll catch that last line?
"We say that a vote from you this election is a vote for the president."
That first pronoun of the sentence is in the plural, ya'll.
'We'.
As the day approaches, the veneer begins to slip away. The spin jest won't pass the sniff test no moh'.
If you're a registered voter in Memphis, and you love your city, this is the best opportunity in years to break the back of the machine that has victimized your town for so long. It's a way to break the back of the racial polarization that the machine has fed and exploited in order to remain in power.
Even if Charlotte doesn't win, but has a good showing, your vote for her sends the message that timez iz changed, and bizness az uzual jest won't do no moh'.
Howz'at foh sum Hope-n-Change, ya'll?
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