Wednesday, October 22, 2008

House GOP leader asks Bush to cut off ACORN funds

As reported here, House Republican leader John Boehner on Wednesday urged President Bush to block all federal funds to a grass-roots community group that has been accused of voter registration fraud.

"It is evident that ACORN is incapable of using federal funds in a manner that is consistent with the law," Boehner, R-Ohio, wrote Bush, saying that funds should be blocked until all federal investigations into the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now are completed.

ACORN, a group that has led liberal causes since it was formed in 1970, this year hired more than 13,000 part-time workers to sign up voters in minority and poor neighborhoods in 21 states. Some of the 1.3 million registration cards submitted to local election officials, using the names of cartoon characters or pro football players, were obviously phony, spurring GOP charges of widespread misconduct.

For more on the voter fraud antics of ACORN go here. (Oh, yeah - here, too!)

I was beginning to wonder if this was ever going to happen!

Monday, October 20, 2008

I used to like you, but not any more

I've seen through the veil you hide behind, and what I see is not a pretty sight. I used to like you, but not any more. I used to respect you, but not any more. Because of your prior association with one of the greatest President's this country has ever seen, you used to have "cred" with me, you words carried weight, and I looked forward to reading your thoughts. But not any more. I've seen behind the veil.

This latest example is the straw that broke the camels proverbial back, Peggy. Yes, you, Peggy Noonan, I'm talking about you, to you.

The title of your elitist screed is, "Palin's Failin'", with the subtitle stating, "What is it she stands for? After seven weeks, we don't know." You're wrong, Peggy, when you use the word "we", for we DO know what she stands for. It is, however, quite apparent that you don't. Oh, and if you're going to write something about someone - anyone - you might want to mention that persons name sooner than the FIFTH paragraph, even if that mention is to mention that the Dems consider her a dope, and unqualified. It seems that you hold the same opinion as well, by what you wrote further in your elitist screed. Some choice nuggets -

"But we have seen Mrs. Palin on the national stage for seven weeks now, and there is little sign that she has the tools, the equipment, the knowledge or the philosophical grounding one hopes for, and expects, in a holder of high office. She is a person of great ambition, but the question remains: What is the purpose of the ambition? She wants to rise, but what for?"

Oh, she has the tools, alright, but you're so far removed from the true halls of power - the People - Peggy, that you wouldn't recognize someone having the tools even if they thunked you up side the head with a hammer. Her aspirations, Peggy? She's made that perfectly clear - to serve the People of the United States of America. Apparently that concept has become foreign to you, now that you're a part of the "power elite".

"For seven weeks I've listened to her, trying to understand if she is Bushian or Reaganite ..."

You, who once walked the same halls as Ronald Reagan, can't figure that out? How far you have fallen, Peggy, how far you have fallen.

"Her supporters accuse her critics of snobbery ..."
BINGO! You're proving us right, Peggy.

"In the past two weeks she has spent her time throwing out tinny lines to crowds she doesn't, really, understand."

I believe she understands us very well, Peggy. However, I also believe that you are the one who doesn't understand us - at all, if you ever really did.

"This is not a leader, this is a follower, and she follows what she imagines is the base, which is in fact a vast and broken-hearted thing whose pain she cannot, actually, imagine."

There you go again - to quote my favorite President. Saying that someone who is a bona fide card carrying member of the base cannot imagine the pain we've felt over the past several years is simply ludicrous, because she's felt it too.

Last but not least, Peggy, trying to keep us from criticizing you for your elitist screed by holding up Christopher Buckley as a paragon of martyrdom, sacrificed on the altar of "Thou shalt not criticize!", is a straw man at best. The real reason he was allowed to resign from the organ his father established? Because he endorsed Barack Obama.

H/T for the link goes to specialrpt, posting in quicknews.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

PUMA's* and Conservatives have something in common

That would be a loathing of Obama.

Emperor Mischa and Ace both extend a hand to PUMA's, asking if there is any way we can work together to defeat Obama. I, for one, agree with both of them.

Speaking of PUMA's, this is very interesting (pretty long, too, but read it anyway).

* PUMA = Party Unity My Ass - disaffected Hillary supporters who, for the most part, are going to vote against Obama.

Obama and ACORN

New video from the McCain/Palin campaign, courtesy of my friends at The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler.


Friday, October 03, 2008

My Take on the VP debate

First off, I think Gwen Ifill did a professional job as the moderator, which was a pleasant surprise. She kept things moving, without being heavy handed about it, and without letting her own personal bias get in the way. So, kudos to Gwen.

Senator Biden

Senator Biden did as I expected him to - attacking President Bush, and being supportive of his running mate, yet doing so in a way that was not personally hostile to Governor Palin. He made a few statements that, if I had been taking notes, I would be able to refute pretty easily, I think - after I got done crying "BS!". But, I didn't take notes - my bad. One area where I thought he was treading on thin ice was talking about his own record, which in the grand scheme of things ain't so hot. Another area where he definitely was treading on thin ice was in claiming that Obama "has repeatedly reached across the aisle" to work with Republicans in a bi-partisan way. Oh, really? When?

I have to admit that I came away from this actually liking the guy, even though I'm adamantly opposed to what he believes in as far as politics is concerned. I was touched by the emotion he briefly displayed when speaking of his personal family loss, wondering if his son was going to make it, and by his graciousness towards Governor Palin even though he's adamantly opposed to her political beliefs. He took the barbs thrown his way with good humor, and didn't allow himself to resort to "playing dirty" in retaliation.

All in all, I have to concede that Senator Biden did fairly well, so kudos to him.

Governor Palin

Governor Palin came across as determined to get her points across, even if it meant not exactly answering the question that had been posed. Although she seemed to check her notes quite often, I don't see that as a negative (unlike the MSM), as it showed me she wanted to get her response correct, whether it was in answering a question, or offering a rebuttal to something Senator Biden said.

She seemed as if she was prepared to really go on the attack at the start, depending on what Senator Biden said, and how he said it, but relaxed when she realized that she wasn't going to come under personal attack (with the only time that I recall that Senator Biden came close to doing that. was when he used the phrase, "bridge to nowhere).

She had a professional air about her during the debate, which was softened by her "folksiness" as the MSM has called it, which is exactly the right thing for her to have done. She presented herself as a capable, no nonsense, leader - whether in business or politics - yet still showed that she is, after all, a human being with feelings, and empathy for others.

What I liked best was when she looked right into the camera and spoke directly to "Joe Six Pack" and the "Hockey Mom's" - your average American. It made you want to - almost compelled you to - listen very carefully to what she had to say about what she thought was important for America, and how she and McCain were going to work to get us there.

All in all, I thought she did a good job with only one real flub - when she transposed "Main Street" and "Wall Street" (no big deal, as everyone knew what she meant, and like me, probably "fixed" it in their own minds). Kudos go to Governor Palin for her performance in this debate, as well.

So, who's the winner in my mind?

Actually, putting my own bias aside to look at this as objectively as I can, neither VP candidate landed any real knockout blows to the other, and in the grand scheme of things, this debate pretty much just let the American public get a better look at both candidates, and I have to declare it a tie.

Will this debate have a pronounced effect on the outcome of the election? No.

Will this debate have at least some effect on the outcome of this election? Certainly, but how much, and for which ticket is yet to be determined.