Sarah Palin Is Awesome

I woke up this morning to a phone call from my father informing me that John McCain was set to name Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. That got my attention.

Over the last few months, I had heard Palin's name mentioned frequently, though not loudly, as a potential VP. I personally preferred Romney and thought he could have helped in New Hampshire, Michigan, Colorado, and Nevada, but I understood the risk of giving social/religious conservatives another reason to stay home on election day.

So yeah, I understood the positives and negatives of Romney for VP. I was persuaded that the campaign was too smart to select Lieberman, would never tap Charlie Crist or Tom Ridge, and though I might like it, Colin Powell was unlikely to get the nod. The people I read and whose opinions I trust all suggested Tim Pawlenty. He's a successful governor and a social and fiscal conservative and importantly, hails from a battleground state--Minnesota, a state McCain has an outside chance of winning. But I don't want to overstate the state-specific electoral boost of VP candidates. It didn't work out so well for Edwards or Gore.

But back to Sarah Palin. This woman is awesome. You've read it all elsewhere, but it bears repeating here. She was a mayor. Compare mayor to the nebulous community organizer. Does anyone even know what a community organizer does? More specifically, as CO, does anyone know what Obama did?

But folks, that's not all. She chaired a reformist, investigative committee which put her in a position to take on the corrupt elements in her own party. This wasn't a partisan thing. She saw corruption and she rooted it out.

And then, she became governor. As governor, she has run an incredibly tight financial ship that does not kowtow to special interest and broke up the corrupt Republican political machine.

Governor Sarah Palin, Republicans' #2, has more executive experience and is far more prepared to be President than Democrats' #1, Barack Obama. So Biden has more foreign policy experience than Sarah Palin? So what? Biden is not the Democrat's Presidential nominee, Obama is. And he has no executive experience and little to no foreign policy experience. Sarah Palin would be a better POTUS than either Biden or Obama.

This raises what is, I think, a ridiculously stupid line of argument: that Sarah Palin is inexperienced.

Pot, meet kettle.

This is an argument that makes itself. Conservative pundits don't even have to argue this one. Joe American is going to hear the reactionary Obama surrogates make this argument and say to themselves, "community organizer is criticizing mayor & Governor Palin?" Seriously? Seriously?!

And this woman walks the walk. Pro-life, she gave birth to a child with Downs syndrome.

As a woman, she will peel off the women who wanted to vote for a woman and are not ideological. This eats away at Democrats' traditional advantage among women.

When Obama picked Biden and McCain picked Palin, the outside-the-beltway narrative was ceded to Republicans. The Democrats, with Biden on the ticket, are the ultimate insiders. At a time when the public is dissatisfied with Washington, this was a mistake and huge advantage to McCain/Palin.

Importantly, Governor Palin fires up the base. This was the one concern shared by all conservative pundits--that social conservatives would stay home. No longer. My survey of the conservative interweb shows a base that, maybe for the first time this election, is ready to work hard to get McCain/Palin elected.

Not to be overlooked, adding Governor Palin to the ticket neutralizes, to some degree, the Democrats' narrative that they are "making history."

So are the Republicans.


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More NewsBusters (#12)

Check it out:

Celebrities Decamp Hollywood for Denver & the DNC

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Obama Booty Call Pre-empted, Iowahawk, &c.

Well, the Obama Booty Call didn't quite come off as hoped. It dropped sometime around 3am EST, but had already been known by anyone visiting Drudge or watching the news. I suppose they thought the text would arrive just as all the hip, twentysomething Obamaniacs were leaving the clubs on the east coast and arriving on the west coast.

Speaking of hipsters, be sure to check out the latest bit of satire from Iowahawk. It's laugh-out-loud good--unless, of course, you're the one being satirized and you have no sense of humor. After reading, ask yourself, "do I know anyone like this?" I'll bet you know at least one.

And be sure to check out my last two NewsBusters posts:

Fake & Innaccurate: No 'Shared' Pulitzers for LAT's Kevin Roderick
George Clooney's Father, Nick Clooney, to Join American University Staff

Thanks for continuing to read my writing here and at NB and helping to grow the OL&L readership.


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The Obama Booty Call

My favorite place to check the polls, fivethirtyeight.com, is turning into just another Daily Kos diary. You know the type. They write up some scenario about young twenty-somethings and on and on and everyone talks about Obama and how great he is and how enlightened and progressive they are and, well, read the latest for yourself:

Now, think of the good feelings people have leaving work on a Friday - people gather socially on Friday nights, especially younger and more single people who can create a buzz. Imagine some of the more politically active young people hanging out with less politically active friends and getting a news-breaking text and tipping point some gatherings into little cells of persuasion. And now I'm talking myself into an imminent announcement. Isn't MSNBC about to come online with the political shows?

Finally, a junkie anecdote: last night, I texted Nate about something, and he replied "*%^$, I thought that was Obama's text." And when he texted me back to say that, I stopped mid-pee to grab my phone.

This is sick, just sick. Rather than staying up, giddy with anticipation for a late-night, ah, text from a significant other, they're waiting with bated breath for Obama's VP announcement. Call it the Obama Booty Call.

It may be that no group in the history of the world has ever had such high regard for themselves as do the self-named "progressive" supporters of Barack Obama, Guitar Hero*. Given the candidate, it's only fitting.

Please guys, get back to talking about polls and regression analysis--for the love of Gallup, play to your strength.


*Over-the-top performance, no real skill or experience.


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NB #8: The Latest On Annenberg Gate

This whole Annenberg paper's story really intrigues me. With my historical background (as a historian-in-training) I'm fascinated by the politics and interplay between the Obama campaign, Bill Ayers, the University of Illinois and now, Mayor Richard Daley. Anyway, my latest post on the topic is up:

Update: Still No Movement on Ayers-Obama Annenberg Papers

Will the university grant unlimited access to the papers? This this access come before the election? Who is the anonymous donor? Will anything be redacted from the documents? -- All of these questions come before we even get at the papers themselves and get a clearer picture of the Ayers-Obama relationship.


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NB #7: Barack Obama: Overrated, Overexposed, & Over Here

Another blog post and another rejected title. In times past I've been too conservative (of course) in my approach to title writing. This time, I was, like my favorite Guitar Hero*, Barack Obama, over-the-top. Oh well. The point of my latest NewsBusters post remains: even when trying to catch a wave, Obama still gets more attention than John McCain.

Pew: Obama Takes Vacation, Still Generates More News Than McCain

Oh well, prepare yourselves for Obama-fatigue. Don't say I didn't warn you.


*Almost forgot: Over-the-top performance, no real skill or experience.


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NB #6: How I Was Hired By Bill Ayers, By Barack Obama

The title for this post was one of the ones that got rejected by my editor. I can't imagine why it didn't make the cut. Oh well,

University Denies Access to Obama-Ayers Documents

will probably work.

But seriously, this is a story you should follow. I blogged about it yesterday--here--and have been reading and researching it ever since.

Here's the thing: Obama has ties to Bill Ayers--a former terrorist. Supporters of Barack Obama can say what they want, but should ask themselves one question: if you knew John McCain had ties to someone who used to bomb abortion clinics, would you want to know more?

That's what I thought.


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NB #5: Roseanne Barr Is A Big Fat Idiot

My latest posts examines, academically, the lunatic rantings and ravings of one "Roseanne Barr." I don't know if that's her real name or her alien-given name. Either way, here's a sampling and a link to my latest NewsBusters post:

Celebrity advisors/surrogates--like George Clooney--are a point of pride for Democrats. They like the "cool" factor these celebrities bring to their campaigns. Though their fame brings increased attention and makes their candidates chic, celebrity also elevates people with no other identifiable skills. What, exactly, does Clooney bring to Obama's team of 300 foreign policy advisors(?), for instance. Oh well, at least Republicans don't have to deal with Roseanne Barr.

By the by, I was re-watching the second season of 30 Rock late last night and came across the episode in which Jack Donaghy is throwing a fundraiser for John McCain. The episode deals with Jack trying, unsuccessfully, to find a few Republican celebrities. Bruce Willis won't show unless they let him sing.

Courtesy of wikiquote, regarding Kenneth the Page's voting habits:

KENNETH: Oh no Sir, I don't vote Republican or Democrat. Choosing is a sin, so I always just write in the Lord's name.
JACK: That's Republican. We count those.

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Stanley Kurtz With Bill Bennett On Barack Obama & Bill Ayers

The University of Illinois will not allow Stanley Kurtz to examine the documents of Bill Ayers organization for which Barack Obama was Chairman. Kurtz has a general idea of what are in the papers--he was forwarded a research guide--but without access, doesn't know the details and the specifics. This smacks of a cover-up.

We predict that by the time someone, Kurtz, anyone gets access to these papers, that they will be shredded, misplaced, whatever.

Kurtz's informed guess as to the contents? He believes it will reveal a document that shows why Ayers wanted Obama as as chairman and correspondence between the two. There will also be information about other radical organizations to which Obama funneled money.

Yup, this is the guy Democrats nominated to be POTUS.

NRO has more
Flying Aces even more


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The Flip-Flop: An Exhaustive Examination

Though not by me.

No, this in depth analysis is provided courtesy of American Thinker's Paul Shlichta. He's very good.

I highly recommend you peruse American Thinker daily. The blog--with all its writers--is thoughtful, intelligent, and incisive.

A selection from the post:

"Flip-flop" is usually just a politician's way of saying that an opponent has changed sides on an issue. But in fact, such a change can be good or bad. The primary index of infamy is not the degree or frequency of change but rather the motive for doing so. I therefore propose that we to define flip-flopping as "changing sides in a political issue for a dishonest or deceptive motive".

Flip-flopping probably hit its peak during the 2004 campaign when Kerry was successfully pegged as king flip-flopper by the Bush campaign. It will be interesting to see the degree of prominence it attains in the coming, final months of the 2008 Presidential campaign.


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Obama/McCain On The Appropriate Response To Evil

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Obama Slanders Clarence Thomas (UPDATE)

If you've been reading for the last 9 months or so, you know that Clarence Thomas is one of my heroes. His memoir--'My Grandfather's Son'--was the OL&L book of the year in 2007.

Tonight, at the Saddleback Q&A sesh (transcript here) Barack Obama* hypocritically disparaged my favorite Supreme Court justice. Watch the video and see for yourself.



Mid-way through saying that Thomas didn't have enough experi..., Obama stops himself and performs a bit of the verbal acrobatics for which he is famous. He instead attacks his qualifications.

Obama doesn't know what he's talking about.

Though Obama was editor of the Harvard Law Review, as American Thinker points out, he never published any of his own work. In 12 years of whatever affiliation he had with University of Chicago Law School, he published nothing. This is rare in the academy that typically requires that professors 'publish or perish.'

When it comes to memoir writing, Obama is definitely more qualified than Thomas. After 47 years of life, the incredibly narcissistic and self reverential Obama has written two memoirs--'Audacity' & 'Dreams.'

Thomas, 60, just wrote his after 17 years on the Supreme Court, a year on the DC Appeals Court, 9 years as Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a year as Assistant Secretary of Education Office of Civil Rights, 3 years as Legislative Assistant for Senator Danforth, 4 years as an attourney for Monsanto, and 4 years as Assistant Atourney General of Missouri (see wikipedia for more).

If Clarence Thomas wasn't qualified to be one of 9 Supreme Court Justices, what does that say of Barack Obama's qualifications for President? Grossly unqualified?

*UPDATE 18 August 6:58pm PST: The WSJ follows my lead. So does Doug Ross.


*Over-the-top performance, no real skill or experience.


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Kobe Bryant, Patriot

In an interview about the honor of representing America at the Olympics with NBC everyman, Chris Collinsworth, Kobe Bryant had this to say:

COLLINSWORTH: Where does the patriotism come from inside of you? Historically, what is it?

BRYANT: Well, you know it’s just our country, we believe [the U.S.A.] is the greatest country in the world. It has given us so many great opportunities, and it’s just a sense of pride that you have; that you say ‘You know what? Our country is the best.’

COLLINSWORTH: Is that a ‘cool’ thing to say, in this day and age? That you love your country, and that you’re fighting for the red, white and blue? It seems sort of like a day gone by.

BRYANT: No, it’s a cool thing for me to say. I feel great about it, and I’m not ashamed to say it. I mean, this is a tremendous honor.

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NB #4: A Meta Look At Bias & The 'Fairness Doctrine'

My latest post for NewsBusters, examining a series of polls by Rasmussen on bias in the media, campaign finance and the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" is up. Check it out:

Polls: Public Dislikes Bias, Dems Want 'Fairness'

Even after looking at the numbers and reading liberal rantings on the interweb, I still don't get why the left is so infatuated with government regulation of the media.

The only conclusion I can come to is that they don't like free speech. They only like their speech. And they will impose speech codes at universities, and government control of the media, wrapped in euphemisms like the "Fairness Doctrine," to stifle everything else.


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Francis Fukuyama Shouldn't Bet Against The U.S.

In a fantastic article at the Wall Street Journal, Bret Stephens reports on a bet he made with Francis Fukuyama.

The bet?

Whether or not Iraq would be "a mess" 5 years after the invasion. Fukuyama said yes, Stephens no.

Last week Fukuyama sent Stephens a check for $100.

From Stephens article, a list of the accomplishments to date in Iraq:

Saddam is dead. Had he remained in power, we would likely still believe he had WMD. He would have been sitting on an oil bonanza priced at $140 a barrel. He would almost certainly have broken free from an already crumbling sanctions regime. The U.S. would be faced with not one, but two, major adversaries in the Persian Gulf. Iraqis would be living under a regime that, in an average year, was at least as murderous as the sectarian violence that followed its collapse. And the U.S. would have seemed powerless to shape events.

Instead, we now have a government that does not threaten its neighbors, does not sponsor terrorism, and is unlikely to again seek WMD. We have a democratic government, a first for the Arab world, and one that is increasingly capable of defending its people and asserting its interests.

We have a defeat for al Qaeda. Critics carp that had there been no invasion, there never would have been al Qaeda in Iraq. Maybe. As it is, thousands of jihadists are dead, al Qaeda has been defeated on its self-declared "central battlefield," and the movement is largely discredited on the Arab street and even within Islamist circles.

We also have -- if still only prospectively -- an Arab bulwark against Iran's encroachments in the region. But that depends on whether we simply withdraw from Iraq, or join it in a lasting security partnership.

At the conclusion, Stephens proposed a another bet with Fukuyama: that on the 10 year anniversary of Iraq's liberation, Fukuyama will concede the broader case for war in Iraq.

Here's to hoping that this time, Fukuyama will know a losing bet when he sees it.


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Quote of the Day

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a McCain economist, was recently quoted in the National Journal, responding to former Enron Adviser*, Paul Krugman's criticism of McCain's pro-drilling policy:

If we could get a firm commitment to expanded supply of oil on the market three and a half years from now, that would change spot market prices three and half years from now, that would change futures prices today and that would translate into pressure on prices instantaneously. You know, Mr. Krugman's a good economist; he can go back and read his finance text

*Thank you James Taranto.

h/t: John Fund, Political Diary


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NB #3: Seattle Times, MSM, & Fairness Doctrine

Post #3 is up over at Newsbusters:

Seattle Times Feels Threatened, Calls for 'Net Neutrality'

This isn't the first time we've addressed this topic (see here & here). The long and the short is that conservative talk radio (the only place conservatives used to be able to find a home) and the internet have wrested control of the "marketplace of ideas" from the liberal, old-guard media.

This is a good thing.

The smart public recognizes what the MSM has done to news reporting with their consistently liberal-biased reportage and coverage. Now, with the democratization of news and opinion writing brought on by the internet, they are losing readers and ad revenue.

MSM, RIP.

*UPDATE 14 August 10:42am PST: It seems my post was a timely one. Today Rasmussen released polls showing that the 47% of those polled want some sort of "fairness doctrine" for radio and tv and 31% want to see one for the internet.

While I now make a living "exposing and combating" liberal bias in the media, the last thing I want is the government to impose some sort of rules to govern the balance. This is not China (or Russia, for that matter), after all.

Recent polls have shown that a significant majority of Americans see a liberal bias in the media, one that favors Barack Obama, and increasingly, one they do not trust. The results of this poll are probably a response to something that has been building for years--especially coming, as it does, in the aftermath of the media cover-up of the Edwards scandal.

There are disturbingly large numbers of conservatives in favor of some sort of government imposed "Fairness Doctrine." My suspicion is that once they realized exactly what the implications of this would be (government regulation of speech), the would back off their poll responses.


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Obama's Huge Tax Increase

Over at my NewsBusters day job, I linked to an article in The American about the effect of Obama's tax plan on America's marginal tax rates.

As Alex Brill and Alan D. Viard--both economists--show, his "middle-class tax cuts" would actually result in an increase in taxes--especially for the middle class. See the chart below:

h/t: Greg Mankiw

*UPDATE 14 August 3:00pm PST: I just received an email from co-author of the article cited above, AEI Resident Scholar, Alan Viard. He writes:

The article does not find that Obama's plan "would actually result in an increase in taxes--especially for the middle class." As our article makes clear, most people would pay lower taxes under Obama's plan because he would cut taxes for the lower and middle classes.

The point of our article, available at

http://www.american.com/archive/2008/august-08-08/the-folly-of-obama2019s-tax-plan

is that Obama's tax cuts are designed in ways that raise marginal tax rates and therefore reduce incentives to earn income. The marginal rate rises because the size of the tax cut falls as income rises. But, tax payments are lower under Obama's plan (than under current law) at all of the income levels shown in our chart. (emphasis added)

This is an important distinction and I am glad to correct the misconception.


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NewsBusters #2

This time, James Rainey of the L.A. Times feels the heat of my NewsBusters blogging [burn]:

Surprise! LAT Finds Media Treating McCain, Obama Similarly

Hey James Rainey, how about a little honest journalism?


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Genetically Modified Food: Feeding Millions

The verdict is in: Prince Charles screened The Happening one too many times (heck, once is too many).

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, the idiot royal claimed "mass development of genetically modified crops risks causing the world's worst environmental disaster."

The truth? Genetically modified crops provide cheap food to millions of people worldwide.

Comments like Prince Charles' risk alarming people unnecessarily and provoking bad policy. The EU already uses fear-mongering re: genetically modified foods as a not-so-clever form of protectionism. Statement's like Charles exacerbate the existing problem.

Hey Charles, here's a tip: leave the science to the scientists.


*UPDATE 13 August 11:45pm PST: the Reason blog weighs in against the idiocy of Charles and in favor of GM foods.


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NewsBusters.org

Cruise on over to NewsBusters.org and check out my first post for my new gig:

Big Media Analysts: Liberal Bias Not to Blame for MSM Edwards Silence

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Quote Of The Day II

Jason Lezak, anchor leg of the U.S. Men's gold medal winning 4x100 relay, on how he was able to pull off the improbable win over the French in the final leg:

When I flipped at the 50 and saw how far ahead he was ... I thought for a split second, 'there's no way.' And then I changed and I said, 'this is ridiculous, it's the Olympics and I'm here for the United States of America.'

To the French swimmer, who said he would "smash the Americans:" think, before you speak.

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Quote Of The Day

John McCain on Barack Obama, Movie Star*:

Taking in my opponent's performances is a little like watching a big summer blockbuster, and an hour in realizing that all the best scenes were in the trailer you saw last fall.

*We still prefer Barack Obama, Guitar Hero**


**Over-top-performance, no real skill or experience.


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Shale Oil & Energy Independence

This is what we've been talking about.

We have "more [oil shale reserves] than the entire world has consumed since oil was discovered in Pennsylvania in the 19th century."

(h/t Power Line)


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Bob Costas Interviews President Bush

We don't care what anyone says, it'll be a sad day when George W. Bush is no longer President of the United States. He's so like-able and trustworthy. And such a good guy. Think you won't miss him? Ask Britons how they feel about Gordon Brown and if they miss Tony Blair. We suspect the same thing will happen in the U.S. if Barack Obama is elected.

While watching the Olympics tonight, we caught Bob Costas' interview with President Bush. Their interview was wide ranging but we were particularly impressed with the discussion of China and it's human rights/liberty issues.

Transcript here

Costas noted that China remains an authoritarian state despite what you maybe believe as a result of all the positive press surrounding the Olympics. Good on Costas for pointing this out when everyone else seems to forget.

President Bush, a man whose religious sincerity has sometimes been questioned by the haters, pointed out that increased religious liberty is a positive and important step in creating a more free and open society. As he said, 'once religion takes hold, it doesn't leave.'

Religious liberty is often overlooked in broader discussions of human rights. President Bush has made it a priority to push for religious freedom in all his interactions with oppressive regimes. This is something for which he should be given more credit.

It may be that as China continues market liberalization, while resisting the broader freedoms that normally come as a result, that religious liberty will be the catalyst to bringing about deeper democratic reform.

As President Bush noted, it's important for America to stay engaged with China--on every level--and continue to encourage reform at every opportunity.

We already included these links as part of the "Editors' Picks" over at Newsbusters.org, but we don't want anyone to miss out on reading them. W/o further ado, Jay Nordlinger's series on China & the Olympics:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5


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Fine Time For A Vacation

The grand dame of conservative politics, Peggy Noonan wrote about the almost imperceptible shift in the Presidential race yesterday. She wrote that for the first time in the election, it looks like John McCain just might maybe have a shot.

She's not alone in thinking so.

The trend & projection lines at fivethirtyeight.com seem to agree with her.

It doesn't help that Democrat leaders in Congress and Obama* are on the wrong side of the drill-here-now question. This really looks like a winner for Republicans in November. At the least it staunches the bloodletting everyone has predicted for the last 2+ years.

The Democrat brand has been taking hits. First, the news that wasn't new--John Edwards' affair. Then, Detroit Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick (D) was arrested, again. We hate to bring up Eliot Spitzer, but, well, there he is too.

If Spitzer were still around, he likely would have had a prominent part to play in the DNC later this month. We know for certain John Edwards would have after his endorsement of Barack Obama when Hillary was still in it.

And speaking of Hillary, there are rumblings about how much of a symbolic show she wants to make of her run at the convention. After endorsing Obama, Hillary wasn't treated super well and that didn't sit well with Bill.

Imagine how this could play out at the convention. Former President Clinton speaks one night and we all know how good he is at the convention speaking thing. Then his wife, once-time-would-be President Clinton speaks the next night. Obama is good. But he and his speech writers are going to have to come with something extraespecially good for his speech to close things out.

Watch the trend lines and opinion polls. It's not unlikely that we get to the convention, listen to Bill and Hillary, and have mass nostalgia among the Democrat conventioneers.

All of this is to say that it is probably not the best time for Obama to join Congressional Democrats on vacation. Sure, Americans have said that they're on Obama-overload. But to whom, exactly, is he going to cede political airtime?

Oh yeah, the Olympics. Thank goodness for the Olympics.


*Guitar Hero: Over-the-top performance, no real skill or experience.


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Yup, He's A Democrat

At least part of the reason the public viewed (until recently) the Democrat Party more favorably than the Republicans is because of the way the MSM treats Democratic cautionary tales.

Take, for example, Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Tom Blumer of NewsBusters.com, reported earlier today:

Previous NewsBusters posts by Brent Baker and Rusty Weiss have noted the "strange" and nearly complete memory loss exhibited by the TV networks (with the expected exception of fair and balanced Fox News) and the Associated Press concerning the political party affiliation of just-jailed Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

The New York Times's record during the past seven months has been almost equally disgraceful.

Click the link for the full list of the NYT's complete omission of party identifiers.

This, folks, is the MSM theme: Schadenfreude (R), when it's a Republican.

[ ]
Silence, when it's a Democrat.

"Breaking news" that John Edwards (former Democrat candidate for President) is another example. This is the breaking story that wasn't.

Anyone who even casually surfs the blogosphere, Drudge, or Fox News has known about this for some time. But because of an LA Times gag order and the fact that he wasn't a former Republican candidate for President has kept the MSM on the sideline.

Cue the liberal apologists and moral relativists. (oxymoron, we know)

Would this story have even leaked if it weren't for Drudge, the conservative blogosphere, and Fox News?


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Jerry Brown, Misogamist

Issues relating to the family are important to this blog. Last Spring, the California State Supreme Court ruled against traditional marriage--repudiating a clear democratic majority of the state and misinterpreting key parts of the state constitution.

Californians responded by getting over a million signatures--more than enough to get a measure on the ballot this fall which would alter the California constitution in favor of defining marriage as being between one man and one woman.

It's likely the measure will pass.

Despite California's reputation as a state that votes Democrat, a Constitutional amendment protecting marriage enjoys a clear majority.

But the leftists in the state were never going to leave it up to the people. In this case, Jerry Brown is the one doing the meddling. Per John Fund of the Wall Street Journal:

California Attorney General Jerry Brown is stepping outside his law enforcement role and playing politics with a November ballot measure that would ban same-sex marriage in the state.

Backers of the measure collected some one million signatures this spring under a title approved by Mr. Brown's office that made it clear the measure would "provide that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid." Since the signatures were collected, the state Supreme Court has ruled same-sex marriage constitutional but also allowed the ballot measure to go before voters.

Mr. Brown, a candidate for governor in 2010, has apparently decided to make a play for liberal Democratic primary voters by changing his own office's description of the measure. It now reads that the ballot initiative seeks "to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry," a much more negative way of describing the measure. His office says the meaning is the same.

But both supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage "know that to some voters -- perhaps a decisive bloc in a close election -- the new ballot title language could make the measure sound punitive by eliminating a 'right,'" notes Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters.

Lawyers question the validity of Mr. Brown's move. If the meaning is the same, why is the change needed? If the meaning is different, the change contradicts the petition that placed the proposition on the ballot. Either way, the change is groundless.

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Spirit of '94: Roll On, Republicans

Last week we wrote about the Republican protest in Congress to Nancy Pelosi's refusal to even debate off-shore and ANWR drilling. It was an impromptu affair in the House with a grand mixing of Republican congressmen and visitors to Congress. Pelosi kept the microphones, lights, & C-Span cameras off to hamper their efforts, but they pressed on.

The protest continued this week as they have gotten more and more coverage. It started with just Politico, but now, finally, the rest of the MSM are grudgingly giving them a little more press.

The following press conference is just the latest in Republicans efforts to resurrect the Spirit of '94.

Newt Gingrich is a welcome addition.




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Does This Surprise Anyone?

In an article in today's Washington Times, Matthew Sheffield writes about the profane difference between conservative and liberal bloggers.

Dividing the number of instances of profanity by the number of pages of the sites on which they appear, then multiplying the result by 100 yields what might be called a "profanity quotient."

The top 10 liberal sites (Daily Kos, Huffington Post, Democratic Underground, Talking Points Memo, Crooks and Liars, Think Progress, Atrios, Greenwald, MyDD and Firedoglake) have a profanity quotient of 14.6.

The top 10 conservative sites (Free Republic, Hot Air, Little Green Footballs, Townhall, NewsBusters, Lucianne.com, Wizbang, Ace of Spades, Red State and Volokh Conspiracy) have a quotient of 1.17.

(CORRECTED PARAGRAPH:) That's quite a disparity. Liberals are more than 12 times likely to use profanity than conservatives on the Web.

One thing that is interesting to note is that the profanity ratio of a particular site seems somewhat related to the writing style of the bloggers who run it.

For instance, the Ace of Spades blog has the highest profanity quotient on the right. This is likely due to the fact that "Ace," the anonymous proprietor of the site, regularly uses profanity in his own writings and therefore is much less inclined to want to crack down on readers who respond using it.

In the interest of full disclosure, we'll point out that Sheffield is our boss. However, haters, this isn't brown nosing because we're 99% sure he doesn't read this blog.


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State Of The Race

OL&L fav, fivethirtyeight.com released their latest bit of polling data followed by this interesting analysis of the current outlook for November, aka, Electoral Math:

1. Can McCain win Michigan? If so, McCain is very likely to win the election.
2. If McCain loses Michigan, can Obama win Ohio? If so, Obama is very likely to win the election.
3. If Ohio and Michigan are split, can Obama win Colorado or Virginia? If so, Obama is very likely to win the election, having essentially to pick off just one or two smaller states West of the Mississippi (Iowa, New Mexico, Nevada, Montana) while perhaps also having to defend New Hampshire.

These remain the paths of least resistance in this election. It is not coincidence that Obama has two winning paths to McCain's one, which matches the roughly 2:1 favorite that we make Obama in this election.

States like Florida, Missouri and Indiana represent break-glass-in-case-of-emergency states for Obama; McCain's analogous states are probably Pennsylvania, Oregon and perhaps Minnesota. If these states have become must-wins, we are talking about a scenario where a candidate is facing third-and-long: not an uncovertable position by any means, but also not the one they'd prefer to be battling from.

In the race to find better information on which to make important spending decisions, we hope McCain 2008 is checking out fivethirtyeight.com.


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Tracking Obama's Flips & Flops

While getting our daily One Cosmos fix yesterday (something we hope you all do too), we came across a link to a fantastic post by Doug Ross, chronicling the many positions of one Barack Obama, Guitar Hero*.

Provided for you here are the topics on which he has shifted--in many instances mightily--and a link to Doug's post.

• The Surge
• Gay Marriage
• FISA
• NAFTA
• Campaign Finance
• DC Handgun Ban
• School Vouchers
• Guantanamo bay
• Illegal Immigration
• Marijuana
• Abortion
• Iraq
• Death Penalty
• Faith-Based Initiatives
• The Flag Lapel Pin
• Reverend Jeremiah Wright
• Welfare Reform
• The Cuba Embargo
• Single-Payer Healthcare
• Special Interest Contributions
• Divided Jerusalem
• Meeting With Iran's Leaders w/o Precondition
• Palestinian Election
• The Threat Posed By Iran
• Patriot Act
• Gays In The Military
• Coal
• Wiretapping
  

Good hud that's a lot of different positions on a lot of different topics.

Be sure and click through to Doug's post to see the cited evidence of all of Obama's many shifting positions. This is evidence of what we wrote Monday, when we called attention to One Cosmos' and Rush's analysis of Obama--to wit, the difficulty leftist-liberals have in identifying and sticking to core principles.

When someone is at their core multiplicitous (new word) and relativist, they cannot, as One Cosmos pointed out, return to first principles a la Ronald Reagan.

Good thing the MSM has been keeping track of all these things or Obama would come off as some sort of Rock Star or something.


*Over-the-top performance, no real skill or experience.


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"How To Fool The Idiots"

Gagdad Bob (One Cosmos), paraphrasing Rush on Obama, Guitar Hero* and liberalism. This just made a lot of sense and seemed to explain Obama's constantly shifting politics really well:

The other day, I heard a brilliant analysis of Obama by Rush Limbaugh. He was pointing out that the reason he is reduced to such a stuttering [jerk] (to quote Tommy DeVito) when off the teleprompter, is that he is a deeply divided person, either consciously or unconsciously (and undoubtedly both, in my opinion). He is the polar opposite of, say, Ronald Reagan, who always knew what he thought and could answer any question, for it was simply a matter of returning to first principles and applying them to the problem. Very scientific, if you will.

But one of the intrinsic problems in being a liberal is that you can never reveal your first principles, because if you explicitly articulate them, people will be repelled at what a contemptuous and supercilious [idiot] you are. Therefore, you must always couch them in terms of "compassion," or "helping the little guy," or "healing the planet," or "unity," or some other such blather. So in that regard, Obama is dealing with a more general problem that is intrinsic to liberalism, which is How to Fool the Idiots. One must be very cautious, because even the idiots are only so stupid. Thus Obama's constant verbal ticks: "uh, uh, uh, let me, uh, say this, uh, uh, I've been completely, uh, consistent about this, blah blah blah."

Being that liberalism is the political embodiment of multiplicity (or of an oppressive "bad unity" to try to heal it), it should not be surprising that its adherents are so intrinsically inconsistent. It's not so much that they are dishonest, but that the whole ideology is dishonest -- it is a lie from the ground up. Which is also why, the worse your character (or the less your intelligence), the better you will fare as a liberal politician, because you will be able to lie with great ease and even fool yourself.

Anyway, in Rush's analysis, he was pointing out that Obama is running several campaigns simultaneously, and that it is obviously a struggle for him to keep them all straight in his head, thus the great difficulty in being consistent and giving straight answers. Because of this, he is always one gaffe away from a major meltdown. For example, he's running one campaign for blacks, but an entirely different one for whites. (I won't even review the whole list, because it would take too much time, and I've already made my point.)

Really long-time readers of the blog know that we love One Cosmos. Most of what he writes goes over our heads, but every once in awhile he types out some political stuff and it's usually gold just like this selection. We recommend you give him a read.

*Over-the-top-performance, no real skill or experience.


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Political Eye Candy

The Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill

That Mrs. Kucinich, so hot. (though our friend BW tells us to watch out for red-heads)

We're partial to #7. Does anyone know #7?


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House Party: What Happens When Democrats Go On Vacation

... And the lights go out.

This is why we love politics.
(h/t: M. Lybbert)

via Politico's blog, The Crypt, an blow by blow report on the Republicans refusal to go home after Democrats (you know, the party of the people--the party that will actually get something done--the party that will lower your gas taxes) closed down for the summer recess.

You see, Democrats went on vacation without passing a single piece of legislation. It's the first time that's happened since 1950 something. If the last, Republican controlled Congress was a do-nothing Congress, what does that make these guys?

Pelosi's Politburo. We can't take credit for the name--give it up for Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.).

Nancy Pelosi and her faithful sidekick, Harry Reid, didn't even allow debate or discussion about drilling because they knew moderate Democrats would vote with Republicans and they would lose.

What do you do when you know you're going to lose? Don't talk about it. And don't have a vote. Sound familiar? Yup. Just like the former Soviet Union. Or China or any one of the other backward totalitarian states.

One of the stars of the Republican show is John Shadegg. He's been a conservative favorite of this blog for some time. He and fellow Arizona congressman Jeff Flake are the type of conservative Republicans everyone wishes were running the party. Per Politico:

Also, Republicans can thank Shadegg for turning on the microphones the first time. Apparently, the fiesty Arizona conservative started typing random codes into the chamber's public address system and accidentally typed the correct code, allowing Republicans brief access to the microphone before it was turned off again.

"I love this," Shadegg told reporters up in the press gallery afterward. "Congress can be so boring. ... This is a kick."

Seriously, folks. If you like politics at all, this is the best kind of political showmanship and comedy you'll ever get. This kind of thing never happens. Click the link and keep checking back for updates. You can't make this stuff up.


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