Maverick/Barracuda bumper stickers

These are now available on ebay. Better hurry folks before they are gone. I just purchased three. A bit more fun than the traditional bumper stickers I guess. Not that anyone will know what the heck it means when they see it on the back of my vehicles… (:

Friday Night Punk - Sarah ‘Barracuda’ edition

Okay so perhaps Heart isn’t of the punk genre but they are just as groundbreaking and revolutionary.  This is perhaps their best song and should be a staple over the next two months.  Coincidentally, Ann Wilson wrote this song after a media controversy.  Apparently some overzealous reporter for Rolling Stone accused the sisters of having a sexual relationship.  Incensed, Ann returned to her hotel room and wrote Barracuda to relieve her frustration.  Imagine that?! The media blowing stuff out of proportion to create a story!

A Star is Born

More Than 40 Million Viewers Tuned Into Palin’s Speech

That’s amazing, especially for a veep candidate. Some 2 million more women watched it than men and 4.9 million more women watched it than watched Obama’s coronation. That is telling as well and a potential disaster for Obama if he starts to bleed middle class white women voters to McCain/Palin.  You can view the speech here if you missed it. It has made what was a rising star of the GOP into a celebrity extraordinaire and a rallying point for conservatives. The smear freaks who went after Palin only drove up interest and curiosity about her. I think the Leftist fringe made a huge mistake by not just basically ignoring her as inconsequential and a light weight. Instead, they’ve created another celebrity who is now stealing some of Obama’s limelight and novelty. Good going fellas.

Why Palin’s Speech Worked

 

Home Run! Home Run! Home Run! Part III

In the spirit of parts I and II, it is necessary to begin the thread on Sarah Palin.  On the last few threads, Wes has been highly critical, utilizing many of the media talking points on Palin.  This writers take is that Palin was quite good.  Introducing herself as a small-town family girl with legitimate claims as a reforming governor was perfect.  Getting her chops in about oil and energy and Russia were smart ways to show she knows what she is talking about.  And the humorous snarkiness she used in going after Obama succeeded in drawing the line between the elites and the regular folks.  The sound bites will run well tomorrow on the morning shows and on radio.    Money quote; “In politics, there are some candidates that are willing to use change to support their careers.  But John McCain has used his career to create change.”

Again, MSNBC is very subdued following the speech.  Keith Olbermann looked disturbed.  Andrea Mitchell looked as though she had the flu.  Chris Matthews was fair.  I await Pat Buchanans sacrifice at the altar of the MSNBC panel.

**Update**  Dave started the thread before I did but I think it is wise if you would cast your comment on my thread.  My thread is the reform minded thread.  Dave’s thread is nothing more than politics as usual.  While my thread is willing to drill for more comments, Daves thread somehow believes that comments should magically appear there.  He will tax your comment!!

Speaking of home runs… Sarah Palin

If anybody needed a ‘home run’ it was Sarah Palin. And boy did she deliver tonight. Grand slam, spectacular and impressive. Well done, Mrs. Palin, well done. She did exactly what she needed to do tonight without gaffes or looking “unready” or nervous. The base is revving up and the 2008 race truly began tonight. Give them hell Sarah Barracuda! Biden better get himself a cup.

Mort Kondracke: “brilliant”

Bill Kristol: “terrific”

Nina whatsername: “homerun”

Fred Barnes: “Look out Joe Biden!”

Chris Wallace: “A star was born tonight”

Also, do not miss Bob McCarty’s Sarah Palin’s Top Twenty Jabs at the Democrats.

Pat on Palin and the big gamble

How much Palin helped or hurt the ticket will probably be much clearer in about a week. The vetting will be mostly over, she gives her acceptance speech tomorrow and if the Leftist ground troops don’t lay off picking on a 17 year old teenage girl there will be a significant backlash among women voters. The usual pro-abortion zealots are out to destroy Palin at any cost, and if they are not careful they may accidentally destroy Obama’s chance at the presidency instead.

McCain Pick is Paying Off Big Time

The risk John McCain took last Friday is comparable to the 72-year-old ex-fighter pilot knocking back two shots and flying his F-16 under the Golden Gate Bridge.

McCain’s choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his co-pilot was the biggest gamble in presidential history. As of now, it is paying off, big-time…

…By passing over his friends Joe Lieberman and Tom Ridge, and picking Palin, McCain has given himself a fighting chance of winning the White House that, before Friday morning, seemed to be slipping away. Indeed, the bristling reaction on the left testifies to Democratic fears that the choice of Palin could indeed be a game-changer in 2008.

Newt Gingrich on Palin

The disingenuousness of the electorate; the politics of branding those you most disagree with

In the previous post, Dave brought up an interesting point about Obama’s abortion views.  His statement set off a bit of a comment scuffle among the membership about whether or not he was being crass.  He made this point:

One wonders if Obama considers this a “punishment” for Bristol and believes that she should kill it and bury it in a landfill instead. Any guesses on how the netroots bottom feeders will attack Sarah and her daughter for this situation and for her carrying the baby to term?

Now obviously, Obama has made statements on the campaign trail about a child being a “punishment.”  And clearly, he has fought hard for abortion rights and taken positions which, if taken to their extreme, ought to have us reconsider whether Obama is a shill for Planned Parenthood.  But Dave took liberties with the landfill statement by jumping to conclusions and voicing his displeasure in the best way the Christian flank of my party (of which I count myself a member) knows how: use colorful language designed to incite.   To me, this is not only counterproductive, but it is the foundation for the tactics of the mainstream left over the past eight years.  If you can paint your opponent as evil by taking their position to its most extreme, you can certainly disqualify the best of people from office. 

The left is certainly no stranger to these tactics.  If you ask many mainstream leftists, they would likely believe that George Bush is actually an evil man who seeks to kill people! Why else would anyone ever start a war based on “manufactured evidence?”  They have deluded themselves into thinking that he really wants to deny people civil liberties.  That he must actually listen to you speak with grandma over the telephone just to get a beat on some “freedom fighters” that evil George has labelled ”terrorists.”  They honestly believe that Bush knew about the terror attacks prior to 9/11 and did nothing to stop them!! Or worse, that he actually orchestrated the entire fucking thing!

So by painting Obama with that broad brush, Dave is in many ways acting like these people.  Abortion opponents may actually believe that Obama wants women to have abortions.  As many as possible!  That he desires the death of babies over their live births!  That he actually takes pleasure in women having abortion procedures.  I don’t buy it. 

The truth is, George W. Bush has been a very decent man.  He has poured billions of taxpayer dollars into the world community for various causes.  He has basically bucked party principal of tight fiscal policy and ruined his party’s chances in two elections so that people can live free and have relief from poverty or aids or disease or dictators. 

Likewise, Obama is probably a pretty decent guy.  He just happens to have a far left socialist agenda and a misinformed view of international politics or law or social justice or tax policy.

My first youtube video - Meet Sarah Palin

My post Meet Fred Thompson’s wife, Jeri Kehn  was an unexpected huge hit and I never did make it into a youtube video but I should have. There is now tremendous interest in McCain’s pick for veep and I thought I would try to make an easy to make youtube video about her to see how it turned out. Let me know what you think.

Meet Sarah Palin: The Next Vice President of the United States

The Story of Joe Lieberman, neoconservatism and the left wing netroots; redux

On the Sarah Palin thread, a fine chap named TZ reminded me that this story should never go untold.  As Joe Lieberman prepares to take the stage in St. Paul he will most assuredly be assailed as “a wolf in sheeps clothing” by those he once stood shoulder to shoulder with.  The reality is that Joe Lieberman’s party left him, not the opposite. 

My latest column…

…is titled “Our Little Barracuda” and is now up at Watchblog. They usually get it first and everybody else gets it later. Don’t ask me why.

“Our little Baracuda” - Sarah Palin

Politics can be really fun at times. This is one of those times. The “Right” has been so concerned about McCain yet have faithfully, if reluctantly, backed his “Nobama” candidacy. They have been scared to death of Obama and his vision of an apparent womb to the tomb socialist, Utopian state complete with hamster wheel powered vehicles and torch and pitchfork pogroms against all those who are white, bitter, Bible believing, gun owners who hesitated to hire illegals to clean their plastic wading pools.

The howling mob you now hear is millions of conservatives rushing to man the barricades against the Oprah hordes with the new Joan of Arc leading them into battle. In less than twelve hours the past sins of RHINO McCain have been forgiven and Sarah “barracuda” Palin has become some sort of amalgamated mascot, poster child, and hero of many conservatives. The pundits will ponder the question as to whether Palin brought over the women to the McCain camp, but the truth is she brought over every male that is old enough to spout some hair on his chest, have his testicles descend or hasn’t been emasculated somewhere along the way by angry FemiNazis.

The post Unavoidable: Cool Facts About Sarah Palin over at Ace of Spades is funny not so much for the post itself but the wealth of comments it has spawned. Take the time to read it if you aren’t really that busy watching reruns of That’s So Raven on the Disney Channel.

Just a few here:

“Hey Willy, when I saw Palin man-handling that weapon, I told my husband that millions of rock-ribbed conservative men just simultaneously ejaculated.” 

“Sarah  Palin made the entire free world forget about Barry’s speech last night….she is more powerful than Chuck Norris.”

“Sarah Palin once glanced northward.  The glaciers have been receding ever since.”

“Sarah Palin is so hot if she went to San Francisco the gay bars would all go out of business.”

“Sarah Palin can not only catch a bullet in her teeth, she can tie it in a knot with her tongue.”

“Sarah Palin wants to drill in ANWR.  With the heel of her stiletto.”

Good stuff, silly but fun. It all starts for real Sat. morning.

 

Sarah Palin: McCain’s pick for vice president

The braying begins…

So the Democrats have decided to “pounce” on McCain’s VP pick, Sarah Palin. What’s hilarious is that every one of the yapping Democratic attack dogs complaints about Palin apply directly to Obama. Even with this pick, McCains vice presidential selection is more experienced and more qualified for the presidency than the Democratic nominee himself. That should tell you something and that is the line that should be used every time the dimwits start saying a word about “inexperience”. They’ve basically got a “I vote present” Illinois state senator running for the highest office in the land and they are complaining about a governor and, might I add, the only one on both tickets with actual governing experience. She also stands in stark contrast to an Obama who has abundantly more baggage and a disturbingly problematic past. There also seems to be firm evidence that her birth certificate is genuine.

McCain Veep announced tomorrow; Romney flies to Dayton

On July 28, Conclubs DFV gave a detailed rundown of the possible veep picks for McCain.  In his second tier, he had Romney.  I suppose he felt like Romney was too obvious of a pick.  And in just 12 hours, we will know if Romney’s flight to Ohio will be for the purposes of meeting with McCain as the Vice Presidential candidate.

Insiders say that Lieberman may still be in play.  The possibilities are all intriguing.

The ideological war continues…

If true, this is awesome. It’s nice to see the “good guys” striking a blow for freedom once in awhile. Who doesn’t like a good spy story? I hope the radical nutjob groups amongst us tear themselves apart looking for the ‘mole’ among them. Most of the radical pinko groups are pretty paranoid to begin with, and a story like this is bound to unleash a fresh round of bloodletting in the ranks of the fascist pinko, loony left fringe groups. We can only hope and pray that is indeed the case. Freedom isn’t free, and if one scrap of info obtained helped to derail a portion of the agenda of the socialist Utopian types which infest our society like a nest of vipers I will be well pleased.

Gun-control groups fear top activist was NRA spy

  A gun-control activist who championed the cause for more than a decade and served on the boards of two anti-violence groups is suspected of working as a paid spy for the National Rifle Association, and now those organizations are expelling her and sweeping their offices for bugs.

Dave’s Quote of the Day

“When World War II ended, the United States had the only undamaged industrial power in the world. Our military might was at its peak, and we alone had the ultimate weapon, the nuclear weapon, with the unquestioned ability to deliver it anywhere in the world. If we had sought world domination then, who could have opposed us? But the United States followed a different course, one unique in all the history of mankind. We used our power and wealth to rebuild the war-ravished economies of the world, including those of the nations who had been our enemies. May I say, there is absolutely no substance to charges that the United States is guilty of imperialism or attempts to impose its will on other countries, by use of force.”

—Ronald Reagan

Dave’s Quote of the Day

“Those who would trade our freedom for the soup kitchen of the welfare state have told us that they have a utopian solution of peace without victory. They call their policy ‘accommodation.’ And they say if we only avoid any direct confrontation with the enemy, he will forget his evil ways and learn to love us. All who oppose them are indicted as warmongers. They say we offer simple answers to complex problems. Well, perhaps there is a simple answer—not an easy one, but a simple one—if you and I have the courage to tell our elected officials that we want our national policy based upon what we know in our hearts is morally right… [E]very lesson in history tells us that the greater risk lies in appeasement, and this is the specter our well-meaning liberal friends refuse to face.”

—Ronald Reagan

Get a free “NOBAMA” bumper sticker

To get your sticker, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to;
NOBAMA Free Bumper Sticker
c/o Ted Jackson
2306 Frankfort Ave.
Louisville, KY 40206

You can read about Ted Jackson’s plan to distribute up to one million NOBAMA stickers by visiting McCainstore.com (not affiliated with the official McCain campaign).

UPDATE:  Also, be sure to check out the daily musings of Constitution Club as we examine the ongoing Presidential asipirations of the junior Senator from Illinios.  You’ll enjoy Obama’s Rolling Stone edification, the mocking of the Congress controlled by Dems, change we can’t believe in, and the coming fascist state (led by Obama and the Dems). 

Don’t just get the bumper of your car ready for the election, get your mind ready with Conclub!

The McCain Straight Talk Snowjob Videos

Hussies? I find that beneath you Dave. Has it gotten so bad that you would stoop to that level of humor?

Since Dave posted a little funny about Obama, which is a contrived attempt at humor at best, I thought I would post a couple of McCain videos that are actual REAL footage of REAL words being uttered by this aging, out of touch,past his political prime and utterly confused REAL candidate. Bush was bad enough at stumbling through Q&As, but I think McCain tops him. Watching this video makes me pull for Obama even more in the hopes that even though “untested” and ultra liberal, he will at least be able to present a speech and not make many of us wince in pain while watching.

This next video is a great one where Dr Paul pwned McCain during one of the debates. It’s been mashed up with Miss Teen SC slaughtering a pagent question. Now this is real Humor, although exceptionally sad when you realize this man is running for president and acts utterly clueless when under pressure. At least Miss Teen SC is a hottie and easy to look at while wincing.

Dave’s Quote of the Day

Liberal and conservative worldviews often collide for this reason: Disciplined conservatives put God first, family and country second and themselves third, while liberals tend to put themselves first, their country last, and serve gods made in their image. This is the most defining philosophical distinction between these two groups.

-Mark Alexander, the Patriot Post

Dave’s Quote of the Day

“An opportunity society awaits us. We need only believe in ourselves and give men and women of faith, courage, and vision the freedom to build it. Let others run down America and seek to punish success. Let them call you greedy for not wanting government to take more and more of your earnings. Let them defend their tombstone society of wage and price guidelines, mandatory quotas, tax increases, planned shortages, and shared sacrifices. We want no part of that mess, thank you very much. We will encourage all Americans—men and women, young and old, individuals of every race, creed, and color—to succeed and be healthy, happy, and whole. This is our goal. We see America not falling behind, but moving ahead; our citizens not fearful and divided, but confident and united by shared values of faith, family, work, neighborhood, peace and freedom.”

—Ronald Reagan

Jesse Helms: 1921 - 2008

 

Well done, thy good and faithful servant. Enter into thy rest that hast been prepared for thee.

Our old friend Bob was kind enough to notify me of the passing of Jesse Helms. Truly the end of an era

 …Wish I’d had the honor of shaking his hand and thanking him for all he’d done on behalf of decent, traditional Americans.

Like Jefferson and Adams, gone on our nation’s birthday.

Indeed, for a patriot, the Fourth of July is a good day to die. The great conservative icons are passing one by one, and “Senator No” is just the latest of them.

Thank you Senator for your service to your country and unyielding dedication to principle no matter what the consequences. You will be missed.

U.S. Senator and Conservative Champion Dies

“Jesse Helms was one of the most consequential figures of the 20th century. Along with Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, he helped establish the conservative movement and became a powerful voice for free markets and free people. The defeat of Soviet communism and the rise of Ronald Reagan would not have happened without his intrepid leadership at decisive times.

He was the longest serving U.S. senator from North Carolina and a great friend… Although America has lost a great Patriot, his legacy will live on.”

My Independence Day Post

Go read this.  Beinart nails it.

If you don’t feel like following the link, Chait’s post summarizes it very succinctly:

Peter explains that liberalism and conservatism each have their own definitions of patriotism. Liberal patriotism means loving America’s ideals and striving to bring the reality into closer alignment with them, while conservative patriotism means loving America unconditionally and celebrating its past. Peter argues that neither definition is perfect, and that true patriotism requires a blend of both.

Happy Fourth, boys.

The Defiant One’s Quote of the Day

“You don’t have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to shoot straight”  - Barry Goldwater (RINO-AZ)

Your freedom hangs by a thread

The stunning part of today’s SCOTUS ruling was not that the right of individuals to utilize their second amendment rights was upheld, but that gun grabbing liberal judges who love to legislate from the bench voted against today’s ruling. What should have been a no-brainer, unanimous decision instead shows how an Obama presidency and his future Supreme Court nominees would be incredibly dangerous to the rights of the individual. Equally stunning would have been SCOTUS ruling that you have the right to attend church or blog your thoughts on the Internet. The Founders were very clear that the right of the individual to keep and bear arms was not to be questioned and was almost universally exercised at the time. So three cheers for liberty, and a wake up call at the society that “progressives’ desire for us all. I suggest we all celebrate by picking up another gun or two and some ammo and head on out to the range. God Bless America!

 

High court affirms guns rights in historic decision

President Bush said: “I applaud the Supreme Court’s historic decision today confirming what has always been clear in the Constitution: the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear firearms.”

The full implications of the decision, however, are not sorted out. Still to be seen, for example, is the extent to which the right to have a gun for protection in the home may extend outside the home.

Scalia said the Constitution does not permit “the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home.” The court also struck down D.C. requirements that firearms be equipped with trigger locks or kept disassembled, but left intact the licensing of guns. The district allows shotguns and rifles to be kept in homes if they are registered, kept unloaded and taken apart or equipped with trigger locks.

See also:

McCain: Obama’s gun position ‘elitist’

McCain hailed the ruling as a “landmark victory” for gun rights. Referring to remarks Obama made during the primary campaign, McCain said Obama is out of touch with Americans on gun rights.

“Unlike the elitist view that believes Americans cling to guns out of bitterness, today’s ruling recognizes that gun ownership is a fundamental right — sacred, just as the right to free speech and assembly,” the Arizona senator said.

That deserves an “atta boy” for the senior senator from Arizona.

Dave’s Quote of the Day

“The big difference between Republicans and liberal Democrats is the way each party views people. Republicans see us as individuals and respect our God-given human dignity. To liberal Democrats, we’re not individuals; we’re members of a herd with all the dignity of a cow or pig dependent on its owner for daily rations of hay or slop. Democrats see us as being white or as blacks or as straights or as gays, or as lesbians or as heterosexuals, or as rich or poor, or as Christians or as Jews or as Muslims, or as young or as old, as working or as retired, or as housewives or as career women. They submerge us into pools that define us as members of groups instead of as what we are as God sees us—as any father sees his children—each being different from one another, and each child being a separate and distinct individual with his or her own specific talents and abilities, and all deserving of his love… This Marxist view of human nature embraces group-think, despises individuality, and seeks to eliminate all vestiges of the dignity to which every human being created in the image and likeness of God is entitled. Only the hopes and aspirations of the groups matter, and they matter solely because they create dependency on the state—which seeks to supplant God as the source of all that is good and necessary for survival.”

—Michael Reagan

Obama and the politics of race

Midway through the primary cycle in March, the race of Barack Obama became a primary topic when Hillary supporter and fellow feminist Geraldine Ferraro claimed that, “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position, and if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.”  On this site there was a mixture of opinions on this statement.  My take on it (and the correct take) was that in politics, a candidate is who he or she is and the sum of those parts appeal to a variety of different people.  Being black helps Obama in the way that being a vet helps McCain. 

On the issue of race, one could literally get ten different opinions on how race will affect the election.  An ABC News poll shows that whites are largely unaffected by race.  Similarly, a Fox News poll shows that two-thirds of Americans would be proud to have Obama as president.  The Guardian in the U.K. chose to focus on that other third by saying that “a third of those polled - including both white and African-American voters - admitted to feelings of racial prejudice.” 

And certainly, double standards will permeate the campaign when dealing with race, gender, class, and age.  Dave made a good observation the other day when he noted the chimp moniker for President Bush that would never be tolerated for a candidate/President Obama.  Similarly, it is chic in this campaign to discriminate based on age or gender but don’t you dare make your decision based on race (unless you are a white yuppie liberal that bathes in the muddy waters of racial guilt). 

Meanwhile, the only person bringing up race outside of the media is Barack Obama.  In a foreshadowing of just how low Obama will stoop, on Friday Obama stated that the scary Republicans will try to make voters afraid of him and scare up votes for John McCain.  He cuts right to the age-old Democratic tactics of painting Republicans as racists who are trying to keep the black man down:

“We know what kind of campaign they’re going to run. They’re going to try to make you afraid,” Obama said at the fundraiser. “They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. He’s young and inexperienced and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black? He’s got a feisty wife.”

So now we know what the Democratic response will be should John McCain win the election this November.  It will have nothing to do with Obama’s dearth of foreign policy experience.  It will be totally unrelated to his desire to raise taxes on Americans.  It will have nothing to do with the fact that he has been on the national scene for all of four years.  And his inability to connect to working class white voters and some females will have nothing to do with it.  It will have everything to do with the terrible Republican racists in the U.S. of KKK - A. 

I’m Voting Republican (well, not me actually but…)

This election is going to be nasty and very interesting watch. I love the fact that anybody can post their own form of propaganda on the internet. Who cares if it’s right or wrong, it’s entertainment after all right? You know the campaigns just hate this stuff.

Just Pick One!

An open message from us Republicans to you Democrats.

 

Sometimes Conservatives and Liberals can be friends

 

Even nature shows us that the improbable is possible…

 

 

John McCain’s Senior Moments are Getting To Be Too Much

Taken from Think Progress:

Today, John McCain said this:

While the past few years have seen increased efforts on the part of the State and Justice Departments and the FBI to combat the human slave trade, we must do more. As President, I’ll increase cooperation and communication between all agencies of the federal government by establishing an Inter-Agency Task Force on Human Trafficking, whose purpose will be to focus exclusively on the prosecution of human traffickers and the rescue of their victims.

Apparently, he has no idea that in 2000, his work was already done for him.

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 authorized the President to establish the President’s Interagency Task Force (PITF), a cabinet-level task force to coordinate federal efforts to combat human trafficking. The PITF is chaired by the Secretary of State and meets at least once a year. […]

The PITF approved the following resolution reaffirming the victim-centered approach [and a] commitment to bringing human traffickers to justice, and a sensitivity that victims are just that – victims.

Furthermore, it seems he completely forgot that his hatred of earmarks trumps his desire to see this act stopped. While railing against those terrible earmarks in 2001, he complained (quoted from the Congressional Record by David Brody at CBN:

There is also a $200,000 earmark for a conference in human trafficking at the University of Hawaii in this bill.

Who saw this kind of forgetfulness and/or casual lack of forethought coming? If Democrats lose to this guy, we deserve to. I think all his years of “straight talk” might have given him one of the most two-faced, doubletalk-laden records in Washington.

Considering that he is the oldest first-time Presidential candidate in history, this is a big deal. Right now, only 16% of Republicans and 27% of Independents think his age is a problem. But if he keeps up this kind of thing, that number will assuredly rise. Thanks not only to the incessant needling by late night comedy hosts (SNL will have a field day when they come back in August/September), but also to people simply seeing their unwarranted concerns warranted. People might worry that Obama would be a serious radical, but there’s no real evidence for that yet. McCain is directly providing all the soundbites we need to make the case that he would be too absent-minded to serve one term, let alone two.

What Would We Do Without NRO?

Via Jonah Goldberg in The Corner today:

Argghhh! BLOG: A little photo essay on protests on college campuses.

Conservatives are funny!

The Defiant One’s Quote of the Day

“I have not read the news, watched the news, or read a blog for 48 hours, and it is kind of great. Hell, I have not even checked memeorandum to discover the latest ginned-up outrage of the week. The 98% of the world who don’t read blogs may be on to something.”  -John Cole

Amen.  This really is the silly season (on both sides).

Charlton Heston Speech - Winning the Cultural War

 Charlton Heston -  Winning the Cultural War 

delivered 16 February 1999, Austin Hall, Harvard Law School

Michelle Malkin and the demonization of a marketing principle

Sometimes you just need to follow a link.  Our Sage decided to give some space to a quote from Michelle Malkin regarding the Absolut Vodka ad imbroglio. Ms. Malkin’s site has no shame and Dave should follow links.

Please understand this: I seek not to defend Absolut’s stupid ad, nor the ridiculous concept of reconquista as it relates to the USA and Mexico. I do want to point out that certain extremists seek out opportunities to rabble rouse and they are not above employing propaganda based on lies. Michelle Malkin’s site is sometimes guilty of that. Lets see how this is one of those times…

“The advertising firm that created the Absolut Reconquista ad is Teran/TBWA. Teran is based in Mexico City. The company’s website boasts a pretentious statement of philosophy advocating “disruption” as a “tool for change” and “agent of growth.” (Scroll your mouse over the little buttons in the upper-right margin.) The firm advocates “overturning assumptions and prejudices that get in the way of imagining new possibilities and visionary ideas that help create a larger share of the future.”

Translation: The company advocates overturning borders that get in the way of imagining new maps of North America that help Mexico create a larger share of the continent.” - blogger Michelle Malkin

Well that seems direct and clear! Pretty darn definitive in anyone’s book. Except for just a couple of things. Teran is the Mexico City office for the US owned and New York City headquartered TBWA Worldwide. TBWA is owned by the Omnicom Group which is the largest advertising agency holding company in the world. They are located fittingly enough on Madison Ave in good old New York City. I just wanted to make sure we all are clear on the pedigree here folks; because it matters.

Disrupt or be disrupted. Disrupt or die. This is the captivating story of implementing the most powerful idea in the business today. 

Tom Peters author of In Search of Excellence

This quote is on the flash introduction to TBWA’s website. If you actually GO to their website you may peruse their ideas regarding disruption . Tom Peters is one of capitalism’s towering gurus. I am quite sure that he would be surprised to learn that his words are helping to forment reconquista through a cunning vodka ad.  

No Mitt?

Social Conservatives Warn against Romney as McCain’s VP  

In a full-page letter ad that will run Saturday in an Arizona newspaper where Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will be on the presidential campaign trail, leading social conservatives warn the GOP hopeful against picking Mitt Romney as his vice presidential running mate.

It actually appears to be a manuever by Huckabee forces to outflank the former Massachusetts governor for the Veep nod. I don’t think either one should get it. But it’s fun to watch the jostling.  Alas, poor Mitt, we were just starting to get to know you…

 

Conservative Man’s Prayer

The Conservative Flag Project

 

I love history. And I love flags, as well as their ability to instantly convey a message to those who view them. Every political movement should have a flag. There are several very identifiable flags for various ideological and other movements and even flags for the Democratic and Republican parties. But there is no flag that solely symbolizes the conservative movement in America. 

I have often mused about whether it could or should adopt one of the many fine Revolutionary War flags, old historical flags not currently in use (Bonnie Blue flag or the Florida Patriot flag for example) or even invent one of its own. I’m not sure how this would be received by conservatives as a whole, but I believe it could provide a powerful rallying symbol similar to how flags have been used by other political, ideological and theological movements.

I envision the flag standing for the best principles of the conservative movement.

• Liberty
• Justice
• Patriotism
• Common sense
• Judeo-Christian morals and values
• Free enterprise
• The sanctify of human life
•  Individual rights  
• Personal responsibility
• The traditional family
• Limited government

There are flags that are great examples of universally recognized symbols for various causes. They are highly successful symbols for well known political movements and provide a powerful and clear message just by their display on a bumper, in a rally, flying from a flagpole or displayed on a webpage. In many cases, a flag says a thousand words.

Dave’s Quote(s) of the Day

 ”I did not leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me.” 

 ”I know what it’s like to pull the Republican lever for the first time, because I used to be a Democrat myself, and I can tell you it only hurts for a minute, and then it feels great.”

-Ronald Reagan

Dave’s Quote of the Day

A tad late but still good….

It was 25 years ago, on March 8, 1983, that President Ronald Reagan addressed the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Fla., where he characterized the Soviet Union as the “focus of evil in the modern world”—an “evil empire.”

The president’s pronouncement was a shot heard round the world, as were his motivations: “There is sin and evil in the world,” said Reagan to his Christian brothers, “and we’re enjoined by Scripture and the Lord Jesus to oppose it with all our might.”

Those who wished to accommodate rather than oppose the USSR, and who were not as troubled by atheistic communism, denounced the speech. In The New York Times, Anthony Lewis described the speech as “sectarian,” “outrageous,” “simplistic,” and “terribly dangerous,” before concluding it was “primitive—the only word for it.” Historian Henry Steele Commager asserted, “It was the worst presidential speech in American history, and I’ve read them all.” This was because of its “gross appeal to religious prejudice.”

Certain quarters in the Kremlin hoped to turn Reagan’s remarks into a propaganda tool to deride the president as a warmonger. The tactic backfired. One case in point was Natan Sharansky and his fellow inmates inside Permanent Labor Camp 35—the gulag. The Soviet prison guards shared Reagan’s “primitive” words with Sharansky. Rather than being horrified, Sharansky couldn’t contain his excitement. The moment his persecutors left, he eagerly tapped out Reagan’s words in Morse code on his cell wall, a pattern repeated throughout the ecstatic prison camp, as the words “Evil Empire” echoed from its very source. Sharansky called Reagan’s words “a great encourager for us.”

The Evil Empire speech was not an anti-communist rant. It was a moral statement laying out a just cause in a just war against a militantly atheistic empire that killed tens of millions. It was a historic line in the sand 25 years ago.

—Paul Kengor, a professor at Grove City College, wrote The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism (2006)

Writer David Mamet Is No Longer A “Brain Dead Liberal”

Read his astonishing conversion in - of all places - The Village Voice! This page is swamped right now, but if you keep clicking you will get through.

Money quotes:

John Maynard Keynes was twitted with changing his mind. He replied, “When the facts change, I change my opinion. What do you do, sir?”

My favorite example of a change of mind was Norman Mailer at The Village Voice.

Norman took on the role of drama critic, weighing in on the New York premiere of Waiting for Godot. Twentieth century’s greatest play. Without bothering to go, Mailer called it a piece of garbage.

When he did get around to seeing it, he realized his mistake. He was no longer a Voice columnist, however, so he bought a page in the paper and wrote a retraction, praising the play as the masterpiece it is.

(snip)

I took the liberal view for many decades, but I believe I have changed my mind.

(snip)

I began reading not only the economics of Thomas Sowell (our greatest contemporary philosopher) but Milton Friedman, Paul Johnson, and Shelby Steele, and a host of conservative writers, and found that I agreed with them: a free-market understanding of the world meshes more perfectly with my experience than that idealistic vision I called liberalism.

Read the whole - admiitedly rambling and slightly tepid - piece and then take some time to peruse the vast (and growing) comment section afterwards. The Liberals are enraged. Mr. Mamet might need to hide out in the woods for a while.

How John McCain Completely Lost My Support

There was a time when John McCain was a maverick. When he actually was willing to challenge issues that he felt were worth challenging. When he was unafraid to cross party lines when he had an opinion not shared with the Republicans. Or at least he did when he spoke.

There were always issues on which we disagreed, but that was to be expected. But his selling point, and the concept that gave me hope, was that he was unafraid to state where he stood and unwilling to compromise. Those days are long since gone.

In 2001, John McCain came out against the tax cuts proposed by George W. Bush, saying that they would unfairly benefit the wealthy at the expense of the average American. Today, McCain not only plans to continue those tax cuts, he has vowed not to raise taxes one bit while in office (precisely the kind of loose rhetoric that made Bush Sr. an object of ridicule).

In 2005, McCain waged a very public campaign to make torture by the United States illegal. In 2007, he specifically took umbrage with the idea that waterboarding was not torture. In 2008, he voted to keep torture legal.

In 2007, McCain happily declared that he would accept public funding for his campaign. Easy enough when you’re losing. When you’re winning, apparently, it gives you the right to welsh on your bets and opt right back out after already taking the money and running.

In 1999, McCain said to the San Francisco Chronicle (in words he said were “unclear” later on) that “in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade”. And in fairness, he still doesn’t support the short-term repeal. He supports the immediate repeal. Not only that, he supports a constitutional amendment against abortion (a stance that will alienate a number of independent voters come November).

When I think of how far McCain has fallen in my eyes, I just think back to a moment in early 2007.

Q: “So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?”Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “You’ve stumped me.”

Q: “I mean, I think you’d probably agree it probably does help stop it?”

Mr. McCain: (Laughs) “Are we on the Straight Talk express? I’m not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I’m sure I’ve taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was. Brian, would you find out what my position is on contraception? I’m sure I’m opposed to government spending on it, I’m sure I support the president’s policies on it.”

And that’s the entire problem with the McCain I see today. He doesn’t know what his position is because he doesn’t want to govern on his own positions. For someone looking for personal honor and honesty in government, how could I possibly support this? Compared to someone who is just as two-faced in my own party, he’d be more likely to have my support. But apparently, that scared, confused man that I saw last year is, in fact, the real John McCain. Backwheeling and pandering to the very people he once denounced. Once voters get better acquainted with that man, he’ll understand exactly why Rudolph Giuliani fell so far, so fast. Voters want an independent, and when they realize McCain is not that, they will withdraw their support.

Dave’s Quote(s) of the Day

 ”I will not cede more power to the state. I will not willingly cede more power to anyone, not to the state, not to General Motors, not to the CIO. I will hoard my power like a miser, resisting every effort to drain it away from me. I will then use my power, as I see fit. I mean to live my life an obedient man, but obedient to God, subservient to the wisdom of my ancestors; never to the authority of political truths arrived at yesterday at the voting booth. That is a program of sorts, is it not? It is certainly program enough to keep conservatives busy, and Liberals at bay. And the nation free.”

—William F. Buckley Jr.

At age 29, Buckley launched National Review with this founding statement:
“It stands athwart history, yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined
to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it.”

Conclub is Mark Steyn’s ‘Reader of the Day’

Steynonline picked up a comment from PG about Mark Steyn yesterday and we have been rewarded as Mark Steyn’s ‘readers of the day.’  You’ll find the entry on the sidebar of his site.  Personally, I think we should be ‘readers of the year’ but I’m a bit biased.  It’s good to see that Mark is catching on to the wit and wisdom of Conclub. 

A Life Athwart History

George Will eulogizes William F. Buckley Jr.

WFB: Goldwater, the John Birch Society, and Me

LGF tipped me off to this great look at the way the consummate conservatives of the 1960’s marginalized the most dangerous foes to the modern conservative movement; the John Birch Society. 

At a time when it was necessary to want to control the growing power of the Soviets, some kooks took it a bit too far.  The JBS under leader Robert Welch went beyond the deep end and way out of the pool.  WFB recalls how he and other conservatives felt the need to marginalize these crackpots.  Speaking of Welch he wrote:

His influence was near-hypnotic, and his ideas wild. He said Dwight D. Eisenhower was a “dedicated, conscious agent of the Communist conspiracy,” and that the government of the United States was “under operational control of the Communist party.” It was, he said in the summer of 1961, “50-70 percent” Communist-controlled.

So how did Buckley and Goldwater purge the G.O.P. of these lunatics?  The story shows just how masterful and important he was to the conservative cause: