Fighting to Preserve Liberty in America
After the deranged Jared Loughner was subdued in Tucson, it took virtually no time at all for Democrat Sheriff Clarence Dubnik to start blaming rhetoric on the right to have driven Loughner to his deed. As the story unfolded, there was no such evidence to support the sheriff’s claim. If anything, Loughner’s leanings were leftward.
I for one must say it’s about time. Representative Robert Brady (D-Pa.) is planning to introduce legislation that would make it a federal crime to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a federal official or member of Congress. On Fox News he said emphatically that “you can’t put a bull’s-eye or crosshairs on a United States congressman or a federal official.” He also said, “The rhetoric is just ramped up so negatively, so high, that we have got to shut this down.” Amen, brother. But let’s not stop at just bull’s-eyes or crosshairs. We need to make sure nothing triggers another individual like this. After all, we don’t know for sure he even saw the map on Sarah Palin’s web site. Maybe he’s was a basketball fan.
“Now, I don’t know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that. But I think it’s fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly.” – President Obama commenting on a police incident in Cambridge, Mass. involving Sgt. Crowley and Professor Gates
“We don’t know all the answers yet and I would caution against jumping to conclusions,” – President Obama speaking about Major Nidal Hasan after he killed 13 at Fort Hood.
“There is no credible evidence so far that this attack was more than at least one person, the driver,” said Mayor Mike Bloomberg. “After that there is no evidence that anyone else was involved. It may be, but we can’t say that it is.”…“If I had to guess, twenty five cents, this would be exactly that,” Bloomberg said. “Homegrown maybe a mentally deranged person or someone with a political agenda that doesn’t like the health care bill or something. It could be anything.” – New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg commenting on the Times Square bomber
“You know, at this point I have no information that it’s anything other than a one-off,” – Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano commenting on the Times Square bomber
“The odds are quite high that this was a lone wolf.” – New York Senator Charles Schumer commenting on the Times Square bomber
“Rep. Andre Carson said he and Rep. John Lewis had racial slurs yelled at them as they left the Cannon House Office Building, with protesters chanting what he referred to as “the N-word” fifteen times.” – CBS News report on the Health Care Vote. Andrew Breitbart put up $100,000 to anyone who came forward with video or audio proof of Carson’s accusations. To date, no one has come forward.
When 300,000-500,000 of your closest friends, depending on who is doing the estimating, show up for a rally on the Washington Mall you would think it was somewhat newsworthy, no? Of course it is, that’s why the New York Times published the story on page fifteen. If you were walking by a newsstand and glanced at the front page, you wouldn’t have know that a half million of your fellow citizens got together with Glenn Beck to restore honor in America. The front page would entice you with:
I guess our friends at the times couldn’t find any fabricated stories of someone shouting the “N-word” at Dr. Martin Luther King’s niece Alveda King, who was one of the featured speakers, to elevate the story to the front page. Perhaps it would have been too embarrassing to mention on the front page that Al Sharpton’s counter-demonstration where “several hundred people packed a football field at Paul Laurance Dunbar High School to stage a rally commemorating Dr. King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.” Yesterday, you would have thought both rallies were the same size with crowd estimates of several thousand for each. Perhaps this shows the true value of racial politics today. America is tired of the race baiting and the false charges. President Obama was elected with hope and change to become the post-racial leader of the country. It appears the country has moved on without his leadership.
In another piece in the Times two Progressive women pine for a “Palin of Our Own”, to win the hearts and minds of America. The problem is America doesn’t want to listen to Janeane Garofalo or Joy Behar sneeringly spouting off about Sarah Palin. As far as any women Progressive politicians, who is there other than Hillary Clinton and we’ve seen that act and passed on it.
In another piece titled “Party Down”, Marc Ambinder tells us about the anti-incumbent mood, “Unlike parties, which often recruit candidates who would appeal to the average voter in a general election, these activists care only about nominating the person who accurately represents their own views and frustrations.” Appeal to the average voter? The problem with the Republican Party in the past is that they have been listening to the main stream media reports about who the “average voter” is. So they have elected so called “moderates” who get their clocks cleaned by real Progressives in the election. The left snickered in their sleeves while growing the government into the bloated, ineffective, couch potato that it is. It alarms those on the left that the Tea Party movement has changed all this and tone deaf incumbents are getting tossed left and right. They have unmasked the average voter to be conservative and by measuring candidates against a conservative yardstick, they have struck a chord with the voters who have long felt ignored and disenfranchised. Now those voters are energized and can’t wait to get to the polls. Reason for panic on the left, indeed.
The Democrats are currently trying to roll out that old war horse, “class warfare” in a desperate attempt to arrest their freefall in the polls. The myth is that they are for the little guy when they are the party of big government. Businesses, once they get big, are hardly fans of the free market as they would much prefer to settle into a profitable market niche and not have to keep battling against upstarts.
Show Me the Money
An organization known as OpenSecrets.org, has a website that has information on contributions to the 2008 presidential campaign. The list of top contributors is not a list of contributions by corporations but by contributions from those company’s Political Action Committees, its individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals’ immediate families, but it does give you a sense of where the people who make up these companies see their bread buttered.
If you look at the top 20 donors to Obama compared to the top 20 donors to McCain, the 20th donor on Obama’s list gave 32% more to Obama than the top donor to McCain. As with any large organization there will be individuals who support Republicans and individuals who support Democrats, as well as their PACs wanting hedge bets by giving to both. But the amounts are telling.
What is particularly illuminating is with regard to Wall Street and the Banks. The Democrats are latching onto the sound bite that they want more regulation to protect the little guy, while the Republicans want less regulation so that Wall Street and the banks can get rich at the expense of the little guy.
Who’s Dumber Wall Street or the Democrats?
Does anyone believe that the leaders of Wall Street would give money to a candidate or party without expecting their point of view to be heard? Does anyone believe that the Democrats would take contributions and then turn around and burn those who contributed so generously, particularly before a very tough election? Okay, now that we have that settled let’s look at the numbers.
The top Wall Street and Bank Contributors to Obama’s election were as follows:
The top Wall Street and Bank Contributors to McCain’s election were as follows:
It looks like four of the companies with people who gave to McCain didn’t survive the meltdown and either disappeared or were swallowed up by the winners. If you look as people from companies that gave to both candidates, the amounts are significantly different:
I am not suggesting any quid pro quo for the contributions, but people do things for a reason. Who do you think will be more sensitive to the needs of Wall Street, Obama or the Republicans?
So look for a Financial Reform package that is a lot of smoke and mirrors that actually does nothing constructive. Republicans will oppose it, and Democrats will try to flog them as being for Wall Street and the Banks and against the little guy, but facts are facts. Remember, after passing ObamaCare Democrats tried to paint the picture that they stood up to the insurance companies, when they passed a law that will compel millions of Americans to become customers of those same insurance companies. Do you think that is why the opposition from the insurance companies was muted?
It’s time to drive home the point that this Administration is allied with Wall Street, GE, health insurance companies against us. It should not be hard to do. People are listening closely like never before.
The other day George Stephanopoulos of ABC News had the temerity to ask President Obama his response to criticism from Sarah Palin on his new nuclear policy. In his typical haughty way he said:
“Because last I checked,” he added, “Sarah Palin’s not much of an expert on nuclear issues.”
A child on the playground, as Ms. Palin explained, understands nuclear deterrence better than this president. Tell a child that you can punch me in the nose and I won’t strike back and you’re asking for trouble. How far along has President Obama’s “let’s all be friends” initiative gotten us? He is reduced to scolding Iran and saying “this time we really, really mean it,” while Ahmadinejad snickers in his sleeve.
The Turning Tide
Rasmussen has added a feature to go along with their Daily Presidential poll that measures favorability of media reports on President Obama. What struck me when I looked at them today was that the favorable had dropped below 50%. Uh-oh, Mr. President, call your office. If he loses the lame stream media, stick a fork in his presidency, it’s done.
The left is gathering a circular firing squad and first up is Mr. Stephanopoulos himself, as indicated by this account:
“In effect,” wrote Steven Benen of The Washington Monthly, “the ‘GMA’ host was saying, “Some conspicuously unintelligent right-wing media personality said something stupid about a subject she knows nothing about. Mr. President, how do you respond?”
However, Stephanopoulos was having none of it, responding:
“Whatever Steve thinks of Sarah Palin,” he wrote, “she’s a former VP candidate — and potential challenger to President Obama — with a strong following in the GOP. She made a pointed critique of a new Presidential policy. By asking the President for his response, I was doing my job.”
Wow, impertinent questions for President Obama and respect for Sarah Palin, coming from the lame stream media. This could get very interesting.
President Obama has just created a panel to figure out how to get our debt under control. Even when he makes a decision, such as this one, it is to pass the buck to someone else to do the heavy lifting. His attempt to overhaul health care turned into the Harry and Nancy Show. Obama campaigned and gave speeches while Pelosi and Reid shut out the Republicans and created the bill that could not be passed. Obama is now trying to put lipstick on that pig, by calling for a bipartisan meeting. But instead of starting over and getting ideas from everyone, they are basically going to pick over the stinking corpse of the bill that the Democrats could not get passed. It is obvious that the real objective is to either get some Republicans to sign on or to use the meeting as a club to beat the Republicans as the “party of No.”
Stop Me Before I Spend
This president can’t seem to control himself and he finds that he painted himself into a corner. If he tries to raise taxes on those who make less than $250,000 per year he will be breaking a major campaign promise. If he stops spending on his own, he will lose the left which is about the only support he has remaining. So he calls in Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles to co-chair a committee charged with making the president a tailor made fig leaf, to allow him to cut spending and raise taxes, while shrugging his shoulders and saying, “I can’t go against the excellent advice of this august commission.”
If he wants to cut spending, he can just cut spending. He doesn’t need a commission to do so. How about an across the board spending freeze, except for national defense, until the economy grows enough to balance the budget and not with gimmicks like increasing discretionary spending now 24% and then saying you will freeze that same spending for the next three years? How about freezing government hiring? How about returning $500 billion in unspent stimulus money and $400 billion in repaid TARP money, plus interest, to the Treasury? Don’t hold your breath. That would require someone with executive experience who knows how to make a decision, rather than deliberating, like a legislator. Sarah Palin comes to mind, as does George Bush (I & II), Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan. These experienced executives knew how to put together a budget and make decisions. Chris Christie in New Jersey was just sworn in last month as governor and he immediately identified the problem as too much spending and got to work cutting it back. All that President Obama seems to know how to do is talk.
If we start advertising now, we may get enough resumes to review to find a replacement by 2012.
Reading one of the liberal pundit’s pan of Sarah Palin’s new book and how the reviewer harps on her inexperience, anyone with a room temperature IQ cannot help but ask, what about the guy who won? You can say she had little executive experience, only two years as governor of Alaska and two terms as mayor of 7,000 resident Wasilla. But while one may argue she had little executive experience, he had none. For that matter, neither did McCain or Biden. Legislative experience? Sure. Executive experience? No, and it shows.
Decisions, Decisions
What has he actually made a decision on? The economy? The porkulus package that is “saving” so many jobs, was put together by Pelosi. It was as if she brought it to him and said, “Here, sign,” and he did. Health care? He talked a great deal about it, but five or more proposals sprouted from different committees and like a demolition derby, banged around until there was one left, dented, but still moving.
Guantanamo? Iraq? Afghanistan? A decision, no, no, no, we need to ponder and confer more. Despite putting the commander, McChrystal, in place, Obama can’t seem to agree or disagree with his recommendation. And now, the granddaddy of them all, trying the 9/11 terrorists in New York.
Who’s the Boss?
This is what Barack Obama said:
“‘This is a prosecutorial decision as well as a national security decision.”
Er, no. This is a decision for the Commander in Chief. Don’t slough it off on some underling, no matter how lofty his title, so that at some future date you can put the blame on him. As Harry Truman (D) said, “The buck stops here.” It’s time, Mr. President, to step in, assert your constitutional authority and put a stop to this. The military tribunals were set up and authorized by Congress for just this purpose. It’s time to do the right thing. You took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, not to bow to your left wing base.
After 9/11, President Bush kept us safe for seven and half years. Less than a year into your presidency, we have had the worst terrorist attack on our soil since then. This was preventable. But we are already starting down the slippery slope of liberal happy talk and putting all Americans in harm’s way. Consider this, if the jihadists had their way and actually defeated us and took over, the first place they would go to slaughter the devils would be Hollywood. If you don’t want to protect America because it’s what you took an oath to do, then do it to save your Hollywood friends from themselves.
Conservatives, do not lose heart. Tea Party people, stand firm. Like many great turning points in history, they often involve an historic battle that is lost. The Alamo. Remember the Maine. Dunkirk. Pearl Harbor. 9/11. What they do instead is rally the troops, get them fired up and motivated.
The Battle
In New York’s 23rd Congressional District, the aloofness of the professional pols came to a head. It was the epitome of a recent Rasmussen poll that said 74% of Republicans said their elected leaders were out of touch with the base. On the Democratic side, the opposite was the case were most Democrats felt their elected leaders held similar views to their own. So what happened in the special election in New York’s 23rd district?
Republican party bosses chose Dede Scozzafava to defend a seat that has been Republican since the Civil War. Ms. Scozzafava is pro-abortion, pro-”reform in workers ability to organize”, pro-gay marriage, pro-Obama stimulus package, and endorsed by the Working Families Party, an ACORN front group. That was more than conservatives could stand. Doug Hoffman threw his hat in the ring, conservatives from around the country rallied to him, and Scozzafava eventually dropped out of the race and threw her support behind…the Democrat!!
So the race was between a Democrat and a Conservative, with the Republican candidate a footnote. The Democrat prevailed by about 5% and picked up a seat for Nancy Pelosi.
The Talking Heads
The liberals started rubbing their hands and crowing over the Republican party self-destructing. I see it differently.
In a Gallup poll, 40% of Americans considered themselves conservative, 20% described themselves as liberals. That leaves 40% in the middle. The prevailing wisdom among the Republican Party leadership is that we need to run “moderates” and have a big tent to win elections. I say, do the math.
If you need 50% to win the election, and many times you don’t, then run a conservative candidate. You will start off with the 40% that call themselves conservative, and then you only need to win 25% of the middle to put you over the top. (40% in the middle x 25% = 10%; 40% conservative base plus this 10% = 50%).
Liberals have the tougher job. Starting out with only a base of 20% self-described liberals, they need to win 3/4 of the middle to get to 50% and win. It’s even tougher for them because they typically have to go hard left to win the primary and then try to swim upstream to get back in the middle without anyone noticing.
Putting Elections on a Platter
So what has been the strategy of the Republican Party leadership? Run moderates, because “we can’t win elections with the conservative base alone.” That’s true but neither can the Democrats win with just their liberal base and as I just proved, theirs is the tougher job. But when you run moderates, here’s what happens. A good portion of the conservative base stays home, disgusted. So from starting with 40%, you maybe now have a 20% base. You just let the Democrats pull even. Now you have to win not 25% of the middle but half of the middle. Let’s say the middle is a continuum from almost conservative to almost liberal. If Republicans keep their base, then they can just go after the middle group that is “almost” conservative. If they alienate their base then they have to get every vote in the middle that is the least bit conservative and maybe some liberals. On the flip side, if they keep their base by running conservative candidates, that forces the Democrat to get all the liberals, all moderates, and some who lean conservative, to capture 3/4 of the middle. After going hard left to get nominated, that is an almost impossible task.
Don’t Let Obama Fool You
Obama’s election had an historical element to it that we are not likely to see again. He is an incredibly good speaker, that is, until you realize that is all he is. Put up a moderate like McCain, and it was no contest. The only time it became interesting was when McCain picked Palin, which got the base energized. But the McCain campaign completely mismanaged bringing Palin on board, and the moment was lost.
Remember the 23rd!
So, conservatives have to rally and the Republican leadership has to pay attention. As Margaret Thatcher used to say, “Don’t go wobbly.” Start putting conservatives on the field and turn the tide of the battle.
The next battle is Florida where Charlie Crist…better update his resume, there is a new kid in town, named Marco Rubio and he’s a conservative.
